NEW YORK: New York socialites and philanthropists Vikram and Meera Gandhi were jointly awarded the Humanitarian Award for their work by Metro International at an event held at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City, June 4.

Metro International presented their 2007 Awards before an audience of over 600 people in the Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria and raised about $600,000 dollars for the Fullbright Student program that brings talented students from all over the world to study in the New York metro area at the Graduate and Post graduate levels.

The Fullbright program started in 1945 but was taken to new heights by Metro International which took it on 30 years ago. Each year, Metro International hosts the Fulbright Awards Dinner to honor those who, in the spirit of the late Senator J. William Fulbright, have furthered peace and international understanding through their lives and work. Harriet Mayor Fulbright serves as Honorary Chair of the event. Metro International utilizes the Fulbright Awards Dinner to raise awareness of the Fulbright program and its role in furthering peaceful relationships between peoples and cultures. On the occasion, awards are presented by visiting Fulbright grantees currently affiliated with New York area academic institutions, before an audience of international leaders in business, higher education, the arts, and government.

"This program has had far reaching impacts," said Harriet Fullbright in her comments that evening. "We never imagined it would grow like this. Currently over 50,000 Fullbright grantees from across the globe are studying in the NY metro area."Meera Gandhi and her husband Vikram Gandhi were jointly awarded the Humanitarian Award -- Meera with IIMSAM at the United Nations and The Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Vall Kill; and Vikram for his great contributions to Grameen's Micro Credit program.

Their three children Kiran, Kanika and Kabir were present on the occasion.Speaking on behalf of both her husband and herself, Meera said, "As the world shrinks the importance of the Fullbright scholar program and philosophy is even more important. Metro International's mission of bringing young, intelligent students from all over the world to connect with Americans in the New York area is truly critical."

"The more we realize how enriched we have been by our international experiences, the more we want to make this possible for many other young people to experience," Meera continued. "We are delighted to be part of the Fullbright world today and very much look forward to a more peaceful and tolerant world where there is deep understanding and respect of each other.

"Other honorees included Christopher B.Burnham MD Deutsche Asset Management and Former United Nations Under-Secretary General for Management, and Jean Karoubi, President of the Long Champ group and former Fullbright scholar, and Phylicia Rashad who spoke of how her family left the US to get away from segregation and how growing up in Mexico shaped in large part who she is. Meera Gandhi is a former IIMSAM Goodwill Ambassador and a current Co-Chairperson of the US Committee of the United World College.

She also serves on the Board of Directors of Digital Partners Institute and is active in other endeavors to advance human rights, social justice, education, and peace, including the Eleanor Roosevelt Center, Amnesty International, and the 2004 tsunami and Gujarat earthquake disaster relief efforts. She earned an MBA from Boston University and a BA from the University of Delhi.Vikram Gandhi is a Managing Director of Credit Suisse and is Global Head of its Financial Institutions Group. Prior to joining Credit Suisse First Boston in April 2005, he was with Morgan Stanley where he had served as Co-Head of FIG since 2003.

His previous roles at Morgan Stanley include President of Morgan Stanley-India, Chief Operating Officer of Morgan Stanley's e-commerce initiatives, and head of strategy for the institutional securities business. He also serves on the India Advisory Council of Grameen Foundation. Vikram has a BCom from the University of Bombay and an MBA from the Harvard Business School where he was a Baker Scholar.

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