Uberoi Foundation Leadership

Yashwant Pathak, Chair

Originally from Nagpur, India, Yashwant Pathak is a tenured professor and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs at Taneja College of Pharmacy at the University of South Florida.

Dr. Pathak has travelled to over 80 countries, strengthening wherever possible the local Indic diaspora. He became associated with the Uberoi Foundation shortly after its incorporation, and in January 2020, became chairman of the board.

Dr. Pathak has been adjunct professor in varied universities throughout the world, including Airlangga University in Indonesia, the University of West Indies, and Witwatersrand University in South Africa. Over the years, he has supervised numerous PhD and masters students. Dr. Pathak’s research includes the publication of over 50 books in the area of Drug Delivery systems; Nano technology in drug delivery and artificial neural network for drug design, delivery and disposition; conflict management; and Indic studies. He also has over 250 research publications, reviews, and book chapters.

Dr. Pathak has a passion for the study of ancient civilizations and traditions. He actively volunteers for the International Center for Cultural Studies and, in that capacity, has organized many Conventions of Elders of Ancient Civilizations and Cultures of the World. These events occur every three years, and hundreds of Elders represent more than 35 nations.

Currently, Walter De Gruyter GMBH (with Co-Editor Professor LaVena Wilkins) is publishing Dr. Pathak’s recent book entitled Handbook of Organizational Conflicts. He has two previous books in the field of conflict management, Eastern and Indigenous perspectives on conflict resolution, and organizational conflict management (with Co-editor Professor LaVena Wilkins). In addition, other edited books include Vanaprasthashram and Sewa Vrata and Meanings of Old Age and Aging in the Tradition of India (with Co-Editor Professor Sriniwas Tilak).

Jeffery Long, Vice Chair

Dr. Jeffery D. Long is the Carl W. Zeigler Professor of Religion, Philosophy, and Asian Studies at Elizabethtown College, in central Pennsylvania, where he has taught since receiving his doctoral degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School in the year 2000. He received his master’s degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School in 1993 and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1991. His doctoral dissertation is entitled Plurality and Relativity: Whitehead, Jainism, and the Reconstruction of Religious Pluralism.

Dr. Long is the author of a variety of books, including Jainism: An Introduction and Hinduism in America: A Convergence of Worlds (for which he received the Rajinder and Jyoti Gandhi Award for Excellence in Philosophy, Theology, and Critical Reflection in 2022). His most recent book is Discovering Indian Philosophy: An Introduction to Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist Thought. He is the editor of the Lexington Books series Explorations in Indic Traditions: Ethical, Philosophical, and Theological. He has also published a wide array of articles and has spoken at a variety of venues, both national and international, including three talks given at the United Nations in 2019. In 2013, he presented the inaugural Virchand Gandhi Lecture in Jain Studies at Claremont University.

In 2021, Dr. Long received the John Ranck Award for Research Excellence from Elizabethtown College, and in 2022, he received an Ahimsa Award from the International Ahimsa Foundation for his efforts to promote peace and nonviolence through his scholarship. In 2005, Dr. Long was initiated into the tradition of Sri Ramakrishna by Swami Tyagananda, of the Ramakrishna Vedanta Society of Boston. He speaks regularly at the Vedanta Societies of New York, Washington DC, and Boston. He and his wife and their fellow devotees of Sri Ramakrishna have also established the Vedanta Society of Central Pennsylvania.

Anu Bhatia, Trustee

Anu Bhatia serves as a trustee of the Uberoi Foundation. She graduated from St. Ann’s Convent in Hyderabad in 1979 and then obtained a diploma in Textile Designing with distinction in 1983 from South Delhi Polytechnic for Women. Thereafter, she worked for four years in a textile printing house. Ms. Bhatia’s specializes in designing traditional Indian women’s wear. Mrs. Bhatia’s work has been in a number of exhibitions in Delhi and other cities throughout India. She married Rakesh Bhatia in 1984, and since then has been managing the family textile business.

Mrs. Bhatia takes a keen interest in social activities such as raising funds for underprivileged children and participating in discussions regarding social issues on national television. In her capacity as a trustee of Uberoi Foundation, she is actively involved in encouraging students and teachers from the United States to engage in religious study programs conducted in India and the United States. To this end, she passionately promotes dialogues between institutions in India and the U.S. on the study of Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism in India.

With equal passion, Ms. Bhatia encourages women on refining their role in society. Her hobbies include light vocal music and hand painting on fabrics. She lives by the motto that all people are inherently good and our accomplishments depend largely on developing the spiritual aspects of our personality. Mrs. Bhatia has two daughters and lives with her husband in Delhi.

Jyothi Bhatia, Trustee

The middle of three nieces of Mahinder Singh Uberoi, Jyothi Bhatia serves as a trustee of the Uberoi Foundation.

Mrs. Bhatia lives with her husband and two daughters in Noida, on the outskirts of New Delhi. She graduated from St. Ann’s High School in 1980 and completed her diploma of two years in Fashion Designing in 1982. She then worked with Paris-based garment house “Jack and Jack” for five years. Mrs. Bhatia has travelled extensively all over the country and to Nepal. She has her own fashion design studio, and she and her husband have successfully run their own business for the last 10 years.

Mrs. Bhatia is actively involved in religious activities at the “Bhakti Dham Mandir,” a hillside temple and ashram in Nakuchiatal, Nainital, in the Himalayas. The ashram also serves as a school to educate poor children.

She says, “I thank God for this wonderful opportunity that we have to fulfill our uncle’s wishes.”

Sneha Harjai, Trustee

Sneha Harjai is the youngest of the three nieces of Mahinder Singh Uberoi, and in that capacity, she serves as a trustee of the Uberoi Foundation. Mrs. Harjai graduated from Kamla Nehru College of the University of Delhi with a BA degree in Honors English. She studied travel and tourism and worked as a travel assistant with the Grand Hyatt Hotel for two years.

She was married in 1989 to Sunil Harjai, who recently was awarded for his success as an entrepreneur in Indian small industry. She brought her love and experience in travel to her work with her husband in their shoe exporting business, “Siddharth Exports,” for which she handles the interactions and correspondence with foreign buyers, especially in the UK, Germany, and Italy. The couple has two children.

About the Uberoi Foundation, Sneha says, “Our uncle left us a purpose to fulfill which we hope to achieve with the help of our dear friends who head the Uberoi Foundation. We enjoy putting forth our best efforts in moving towards the goal of our foundation.”

Jim Polsfut, Executive Director

Jim Polsfut has served as the executive director of the Uberoi Foundation for Religious Studies since 2008, as well as its Treasurer since 2011. Most recently, Mr. Polsfut founded the North American Specialty Hospital, serving as its CEO and chairman until 2023. Previously, he was the founding CEO of the U.S.-Mexico Foundation, the president of the Cordillera Foundation, and the president of First Western Development Corporation. Earlier in his career, Mr. Polsfut served as general manager for GE Capital in Mexico City and in the United States, as Denver Mayor Federico Peña’s assistant for finance for the City and County of Denver, and as an associate in the public finance office of Smith Barney.

In addition to his professional responsibilities, Mr. Polsfut is active in the community. Currently he serves as the chair of the advisory board of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver, as chair of the board of the IPODERAC Children’s Fund, as an elder at the Montview Boulevard Presbyterian church in Denver, and as an advisory board member of the Inter-American Foundation. Mr. Polsfut earned an undergraduate degree in Government from Harvard University and an MBA from Stanford University.