Chandrika Tandon
Board of Governors
Recognized Business Leader, Grammy-Nominated Artist, and Humanitarian
Chandrika Tandon is a globally recognized business leader, Grammy-nominated artist, and humanitarian. Her stated mission is to elevate human happiness through music and education – working on the dual prongs of emotional and economic wellbeing.
Chandrika’s economic well-being efforts are focused on higher education – in particular STEM – where she brings to bear her considerable business experience as the first Indian-American woman partners of McKinsey & Company, and founder and Chair of her advisory firm, Tandon Capital Associates, which focuses on measurable transformations of financial institutions into top performers.
She chairs the Board of the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, named after her family’s generous gift. This school has been a transformation success story, with a steady ranking climb, and proudly offers enhanced access to first generation and women students. Chandrika is a Trustee of New York University and NYU Langone Health, a Board member of the NYU Stern School of Business, and Chair of NYU’s Global Council. She is a Harold Acton Fellow at NYU and a Sterling Fellow at Yale, where she serves on the President’s Council on International Activities. In addition, her Foundation has established faculty Chairs at Yale and Harvard Universities. Chandrika served on the Board of Lincoln Center for several years and chaired its Global Council. She served on the President’s Advisory Council at Berklee College of Music and was also the founder of the Berklee Tandon Global Clinics, which brings world class faculty to underrepresented countries.
Her passion for fostering emotional well-being is focused on emanating love, joy, and transcendence through her music and artistry. At the height of her business career, she reevaluated her life and definitions of success, reformulating her business life to intentionally include music, service, and meditation. Under her non-profit music label, Soul Chants Music, Chandrika has released five albums – Ammu’s Treasures, Shivoham – The Quest, Soul March, Soul Mantra, and Grammy-nominated Soul Call. She draws on ancient Vedic chants that have sound healing impact and melds it with Indian classical music, and has attracted a wide cult following. Her Shivoham – The Quest album is an oratorio describing her own path to finding the light. Chandrika’s newest album, Ammu’s Treasures, is a global music album for families. It is a hug for the world, using songs in multiple languages, Vedic chants, and visual animations to help all ages, especially young children, feel the love, light, laughter that is Chandrika’s mantra. She has conducted numerous benefit concerts on world stages to sold-out audiences, including the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, and Berlin’s Olympiastadion, Lobkowicz Palace in Prague, and Washington, DC’s National Mall for hundreds of thousands of attendees of the World Culture Festival.
Chandrika has received several awards including the Gallatin Medal, NYUʼs highest honor, the Walter Nichols Medal for leadership and integrity, and the Polytechnic Medal recognizing her contribution to science and engineering. She was inducted into the Horatio Alger Society of Distinguished Americans and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AMACAD), and has received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, The Town Hall’s Friend of the Arts Award, and the BCA Leadership Award from Americans for the Arts. She has also been profiled in print, on radio, and television, including in CNBCʼs The Brave Ones series.
She was named the inaugural Distinguished Alumnus of both the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) and Madras Christian College (MCC), her two alma maters. Chandrika is currently developing the Boyd-Tandon Business School at MCC and has supported senior and community centers in several Hindu temples in New York.