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Anant Honkan establishes Veer Savarkar Scholarship at NY college
The $1,000 annual award will support undergraduate and graduate engineering students with financial need.
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Staff Reporter - Wed, 29, Jul 2026
- 18:20 EDT
- 52
Anant Honkan / ccny.cuny.edu
Indian American engineering professor Anant Honkan established the Veer Savarkar Legacy Scholarship to support students with financial need at the City College of New York's Grove School of Engineering.
Honkan, a 1987 graduate of The City College of New York (CCNY) and professor emeritus of Engineering at Georgia State University, endowed the scholarship through the Veer Savarkar Legacy Student Support Fund, which he established.
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The scholarship will provide annual awards of $1,000 to support education-related expenses. Preference will be given to mechanical engineering majors. If no eligible students from the department meet the criteria, the awards will be made to deserving students in other Grove School of Engineering departments.
The scholarship honors the legacy of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (1883–1966), an Indian political activist, writer, and reformer, whom Honkan credits with shaping his values and sense of purpose.
An immigrant from India, Honkan said Savarkar's poetry, writings, Marathi plays, and resilience during years of imprisonment profoundly influenced his understanding of duty and service.
"I found not just knowledge but a moral awakening, an inner call that stays with me even while living far from India, here in the United States," Honkan said.
"It is this call that inspires the creation of this scholarship: a humble effort to honor his spirit by uplifting young minds who strive for excellence, integrity, and service to society. There is no better place to establish this scholarship than at CCNY, where it will provide much needed educational support to talented and deserving young engineers from disadvantaged background," he said.
"It is my sincere hope that, through this initiative, future generations of students will not only benefit from the financial assistance but also draw inspiration from a life defined by courage, resilience and unwavering commitment to freedom and justice," he added.
Before retiring in 2025, Honkan spent nearly three decades as a professor at Georgia State University, where he also served as regent engineering pathway coordinator to the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Earlier, he taught at Georgia Perimeter College, where he developed engineering courses and helped establish the college's Regional Engineering Transfer Program with Georgia Tech, earning recognition as the institution's "Father of Engineering."
His academic career also included appointments as an adjunct mathematics instructor at New York University and as a lecturer at the College of Arts, Science and Technology in Jamaica. He began his engineering career with the Buildings and Communications Department of the Government of Maharashtra in India.
Honkan earned a master's degree in mechanical engineering from The City College of New York in 1983, followed by a master's degree in computer science from the Grove School of Engineering in 1987. He later received a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
Before pursuing graduate studies in the United States, he completed a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from BVB College of Engineering, Karnatak University, in India.
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