Dr. Sunitha Grandhee

Dean of Life-Long Learning and Wellness

Dr. Sunitha Grandhee is a passionate Organic Chemist by profession. She received her Masters in Chemistry with specialisation in Neem research, PhD in Organic Chemistry from IIT, Chennai, and completed her postdoctoral studies from Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, Ohio, USA, in the area of Organic Synthesis, Diabetes and Aging Research. She has worked for 28 years at BASF (the world’s largest chemical company) in USA, Germany, and at Exatec (JV of GE/Bayer) in USA, playing various senior global roles in Research, Technical Marketing, Marketing and New Business Development. She successfully managed a global team of research and marketing, looking for new and long-range opportunities for the global market. She has numerous research publications and patents to her credit. She has been invited to many conferences as a guest speaker. Dr. Grandhee has also taught Organic Chemistry as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Detroit. She is a Six Sigma Black Belt.

In 2019, Dr. Grandhee, along with her husband, successfully completed the two-year Vedanta course at Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, Mumbai.

Since joining Chinmaya Vishwa Vidyapeeth, she has organised two large conferences-International Conference on Hybrid learning (HLC 2022) and National Conference on Indian Knowledge Systems for Youth (NYC-IKS-2023) and is involved in writing many IKS proposals and publications.

She is skilled in playing Carnatic Music on the Bansuri and has taught many students. She and her husband enjoy the outdoors and spend time camping, hiking and visiting national parks.

Education
  • BSc Chemistry, S.I.E.T College, University of Madras
  • MSc Chemistry with specialisation in natural products chemistry (neem), Presidency College, University of Madras
  • PhD, Organic Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
  • 2-year Vedanta Course, Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, Mumbai 
Professional Experience (Research/Teaching)
  • Senior Scientist, Technical Marketing, Marketing and New Business Development, BASF USA and Germany. 
  • New Business Development Exatec (JV of GE and Bayer)
  • Adjunct Professor of Chemistry, University of Detroit
Non-professional Experience
  • Vedanta teacher
  • Balavihar teacher for high school students and Study-group Moderator, Chinmaya Mission Ann Arbor
  • Toastmasters
Interests
  • Teaching: 
    • Professional: General and Organic Chemistry (synthesis and reaction mechanisms) | Natural Products | Medicinal Chemistry | Polymer Chemistry | Coatings
    • Non-Professional: Advaita Vedanta | Vedic Chanting | Meditation | Bridging Vedanta (East and West) | Communication
  • Research:  Organic Synthesis and Reaction Mechanisms | Natural Products, Coatings Chemistry and Application | Small Molecules
Research Projects
  • Synthesis of coumarins etc. using Claisen and Cope rearrangements
  • Isolation of terpenoids from Neem
  • Elucidation of crosslink Pentosidine relevance to Diabetes and Ageing
  • Crosslinking in coatings
  • Hydrophobic waterborne emulsions and latexes
Consultancy and Training
  • Consulted with various Coating and Ink partner companies to develop products
  • Trained in-house within BASF and taught coating Chemistry
  • Conducted communication training as part of Toastmasters

Dr. Sunitha Grandhee is a passionate Organic Chemist by profession. She received her Masters in Chemistry with specialisation in Neem research, PhD in Organic Chemistry from IIT, Chennai, and completed her postdoctoral studies from Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, Ohio, USA, in the area of Organic Synthesis, Diabetes and Aging Research. She has worked for 28 years at BASF (the world’s largest chemical company) in USA, Germany, and at Exatec (JV of GE/Bayer) in USA, playing various senior global roles in Research, Technical Marketing, Marketing and New Business Development. She successfully managed a global team of research and marketing, looking for new and long-range opportunities for the global market. She has numerous research publications and patents to her credit. She has been invited to many conferences as a guest speaker. Dr. Grandhee has also taught Organic Chemistry as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Detroit. She is a Six Sigma Black Belt.

In 2019, Dr. Grandhee, along with her husband, successfully completed the two-year Vedanta course at Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, Mumbai.

Since joining Chinmaya Vishwa Vidyapeeth, she has organised two large conferences-International Conference on Hybrid learning (HLC 2022) and National Conference on Indian Knowledge Systems for Youth (NYC-IKS-2023) and is involved in writing many IKS proposals and publications.

She is skilled in playing Carnatic Music on the Bansuri and has taught many students. She and her husband enjoy the outdoors and spend time camping, hiking and visiting national parks.

Education
  • BSc Chemistry, S.I.E.T College, University of Madras
  • MSc Chemistry with specialisation in natural products chemistry (neem), Presidency College, University of Madras
  • PhD, Organic Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
  • 2-year Vedanta Course, Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, Mumbai 
Professional Experience (Research/Teaching)
  • Senior Scientist, Technical Marketing, Marketing and New Business Development, BASF USA and Germany. 
  • New Business Development Exatec (JV of GE and Bayer)
  • Adjunct Professor of Chemistry, University of Detroit
Non-professional Experience
  • Vedanta teacher
  • Balavihar teacher for high school students and Study-group Moderator, Chinmaya Mission Ann Arbor
  • Toastmasters
Interests
  • Teaching: 
    • Professional: General and Organic Chemistry (synthesis and reaction mechanisms) | Natural Products | Medicinal Chemistry | Polymer Chemistry | Coatings
    • Non-Professional: Advaita Vedanta | Vedic Chanting | Meditation | Bridging Vedanta (East and West) | Communication
  • Research:  Organic Synthesis and Reaction Mechanisms | Natural Products, Coatings Chemistry and Application | Small Molecules
Research Projects
  • Synthesis of coumarins etc. using Claisen and Cope rearrangements
  • Isolation of terpenoids from Neem
  • Elucidation of crosslink Pentosidine relevance to Diabetes and Ageing
  • Crosslinking in coatings
  • Hydrophobic waterborne emulsions and latexes
Consultancy and Training
  • Consulted with various Coating and Ink partner companies to develop products
  • Trained in-house within BASF and taught coating Chemistry
  • Conducted communication training as part of Toastmasters

Dr. Sunitha Grandhee is a passionate Organic Chemist by profession. She received her PhD from IIT, Chennai and a Post-Doctoral fellowship from Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, Ohio, USA, in the area of Organic Synthesis, Diabetes and Aging Research. She has worked for 28 years at BASF (the world’s largest chemical company), GE and Bayer, playing various roles such as Research Scientist, Technical Marketing, Marketing and New Business Development. She managed a marketing team, looking for new and long-range opportunities. She has numerous publications and patents to her credit. She has been invited to many conferences as a guest speaker on coatings and chemistry. Dr. Grandhee has also taught Organic Chemistry as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Detroit. She is a Six Sigma blackbelt.

In 2019, Dr. Grandhee, along with her husband, completed the two-year Vedanta course at Sandeepany Sadhanalaya led by Swami Bodhatmananda and simultaneously took an early retirement to fully dedicate her life to the spread of Vedanta. She has been taking classes on the Bhagavad Gita, prakarana granthas, Vedic chanting, meditation and Sanskrit in the Detroit area ever since. She has also been successful in the outreach of Vedanta to the communities, hospitals and corporate and has been invited to give Vedanta lectures at various temples in and around Detroit. Besides, she is skilled in playing Carnatic Music on the Bansuri and has taught many students. She and her husband enjoy the outdoors and spend time camping, hiking and visiting National parks.

Education
  • BSc Chemistry, S.I.E.T College, University of Madras
  • MSc Chemistry with specialisation in natural products chemistry (neem), Presidency College, University of Madras
  • PhD, Organic Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
  • 2-year Vedanta Course, Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, Mumbai 
Professional Experience (Research/Teaching)
  • Senior Scientist, Technical Marketing, Marketing and New Business Development, BASF USA and Germany. 
  • New Business Development Exatec (JV of GE and Bayer)
  • Adjunct Professor of Chemistry, University of Detroit
Non-professional Experience
  • Vedanta teacher
  • Balavihar teacher for high school students and Study-group Moderator, Chinmaya Mission Ann Arbor
  • Toastmasters
Interests
  • Teaching: 
    • Professional: General and Organic Chemistry (synthesis and reaction mechanisms) | Natural Products | Medicinal Chemistry | Polymer Chemistry | Coatings
    • Non-Professional: Advaita Vedanta | Vedic Chanting | Meditation | Bridging Vedanta (East and West) | Communication
  • Research:  Organic Synthesis and Reaction Mechanisms | Natural Products, Coatings Chemistry and Application | Small Molecules
Research Projects
  • Synthesis of coumarins etc. using Claisen and Cope rearrangements
  • Isolation of terpenoids from Neem
  • Elucidation of crosslink Pentosidine relevance to Diabetes and Ageing
  • Crosslinking in coatings
  • Hydrophobic waterborne emulsions and latexes
Consultancy and Training
  • Consulted with various Coating and Ink partner companies to develop products
  • Trained in-house within BASF and taught coating Chemistry
  • Conducted communication training as part of Toastmasters
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