Ganpat “Pat” Patel ('70, Electrical Engineering)

Ganpat “Pat” Patel

B.S. Electrical Engineering, Cal Poly Pomona, 1970

President & Founder, Cherokee International, Inc.

Founder & Patron-in-Chief, Ganpat University, Gujarat, India

Originally from Gujarat, India, Ganpat “Pat” Patel immigrated to the U.S. at age 19 to pursue an undergraduate degree. He found his passion in engineering, but not without a lot of work and some luck.

He started college at Iowa State, but after experiencing his first icy winter, he moved west to study electrical engineering at Cal Poly Pomona after just one semester. Turns out, he fell in love with it.

After a series of jobs supporting military initiatives, he shifted to the commercial sector before his entrepreneurial spirit took over. He started a power supply design company called Cherokee International, which at its peak employed over 1,000 people, and generated more than $111 million in revenue. After he stepped down as chairman, in 2005 Patel decided to change his focus and established Ganpat University in his home state of Gujarat, India.  It is a private university that now has more than 10,000 students.

His advice to students is this, “Keep learning. Be flexible. Pick a field you’re passionate about. Love what you do and do what you love. And lastly, pick your spouse wisely because strong support is something we all need as we walk the road of life.”