Pat Patel
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Pat Patel Manager |
Pat Patel spent his career in the engineering field, first with Lockheed Martin and Borroughs Corp., then as president of Cherokee International in Tustin, which he founded in 1978. A native of India, Patel landed at Cal Poly Pomona in the late 1960s to study electrical engineering and instrumentation –– a new discipline at the time –– receiving a bachelor’s degree in 1969. He earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering from UCLA in 1973.
Since 2005, he has served as patron-in-chief and president as well as a hands-on mentor at Ganpat University in India. He also serves as the manager of FTK Investments LLC. Other philanthropic activities include supporting the Ganpat Voluntary Teaching Movement, which has adopted eight villages in North Gujarat, Mehsana. He established Smt. Manjulaben Ganpatbhai Patel Science College, as well as a hostel for girls to support their education.
To honor his remarkable accomplishments, Patel was inducted into Cal Poly Pomona’s College of Engineering Hall of Fame in 2015. He and his wife, Manju, live in Mission Viejo. They have three grown daughters and seven grandchildren.