Anant Honkan Establishes Veer Savarkar Scholarship at City College of New York

Indian American engineering professor Anant Honkan has established the Veer Savarkar Legacy Scholarship at the City College of New York’s Grove School of Engineering to support students with financial need. The annual award will provide 1,000 dollars to undergraduate and graduate engineering students, with preference given to mechanical engineering majors.

Honkan, a CCNY alumnus and professor emeritus at Georgia State University, created the scholarship through a dedicated student support fund to honor Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, the Indian political activist, writer and reformer who shaped his values and sense of purpose. He said Savarkar’s writings and resilience during imprisonment inspired him to create a legacy that uplifts young engineers and encourages service, excellence and integrity.

If no eligible mechanical engineering student meets the criteria, the award will go to other deserving Grove School of Engineering students. Honkan, who retired in 2025 after nearly three decades at Georgia State, also taught at Georgia Perimeter College, New York University and in Jamaica, and began his career in Maharashtra’s government buildings and communications department.

The scholarship adds to a growing tradition of Indian American philanthropy supporting higher education and student opportunity in the United States.