An International Symposium:
Ahimsa and Aparigraha in Contemporary Contexts
Co-sponsored by JAINA
July 3, 2005
Symposium Speakers 
Pratap Bhogilal is a prominent industrialist and Chairman of Batliboi Ltd. India. He is a trustee of many institutions including Jain Academy Trust, Mumbai and Vishvakalyan Atma Jain Foundation, Delhi. He is the founder and Chairman of Bhogilal Leherchand Institute of Indology, and Atma Vallabh Jain Smarak Shikshan, Delhi. He has played a pioneering role in the promotion of Jain scholarship at various institutions in India, Europe and the United States.
Surendra Bothara is an independent Jain scholar and managing editor at the Prakrit Bharti Academy in Jaipur. He has authored more than a dozen books, including Ahimsa: The Science of Peace (2004). His research and scholarship includes extensive translations of Agamas and Agamic literature in both English and Hindi.
Cromwell Crawford is professor of Religion at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He specializes in the Hindu ethics and philosophy. His latest publication is Hindu Bioethics For the Twenty-First Century. He serves on the Advisory Boards of Jain Spirit and Ahimsa Times, and is the Director of a recently launched program in Jain Studies in North America.
Robert J. Del Bontà received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. He has taught courses in Southand Southeast Asian art and curated many shows at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. In the past, he has curated major exhibitions of Indian painting for the Berkeley Art Museum and Indian art for the University of Michigan Museum of Art. He has published numerous articles on Indian art, including on Jain art from all over India.
Peter Fluegel is the Chair of the Centre of Jaina Studies at the University of London. His recent findings on Jain relic worship represent a major break-through in the study of Jainism. He has published several scholarly works in his field. He is the editor of the Jaina Studies Series (Routledge Curzon) and co-editor of the volume, Asceticism and Power in South and Southeast Asia (forthcoming).
Navindra Jain received his Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh. In 1982 he co-founded Excelan - a pioneer networking company where he served as VP of Engineering. In 1989 the company was acquired by Novell where he served as VP and GM of the Internetworking and Network Management Divisions. He retired in 1993 to raise his daughter and pursue a quiet personal quest for spiritual growth.
Prem Jain is a Senior Vice President and General Manager, Cisco Systems. Jain was the founder
president of the Jain Center of Northern California, the president of Jain Milan, vice president of JAINA, and the convener of the 1991 JAINA convention at Stanford, California. Jain is also active in volunteer work and fundraising for the homeless and in helping San Francisco Bay Area schools. He is a recipient of many awards, honors and patents.
Shailesh J. Mehta received his Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University. He is the President of Granite Hill Capital Ventures, LLC. Previously, he was the Chairman of the Board and CEO of Providian Financial Corporation. Dr. Mehta is a Trustee of the California State University. He is well-known for his philanthropic activities and is a recipient of numerous awards and honors.
Nirmal Sethia is Professor of Management at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. His scholarly interests cover the areas of creativity, innovation and design. More recently, he has been exploring the relevance of Gandhian thought to contemporary business practices, especially in the contexts social entrepreneurship and sustainable development.
Tara Sethia received her Ph.D. from UCLA. She is Professor of History and Director of Ahimsa Center at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona. She teaches History of India, Gandhi, Women in Asia, and Nonviolence in World History. She is the editor of Ahimsa, Anekanta and Jainism (2004) and is working on a book on Gandhi.
Jagdish N. Sheth is the Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing in the Goizueta Business School and the founder of the Center for Relationship Marketing at Emory University. Dr. Sheth is internationally known for his scholarships in Marketing, Customer Satisfaction, Global Competition, and Strategic Thinking. He has authored numerous books in his field.
Michael Tobias is a global interdisciplinary ecologist with research in over 50 countries. He is the author of some 30 books, including Life Force, The World of Jainism. Dr. Tobias has directed and produced more than 100 films, including Ahimsa. He has taught at Dartmouth, University of New Mexico, and at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Anne Vallely received her Ph.D. from University of Toronto. She is an Assistant Professor at the
University of Ottawa. Her main research interests are in the areas of Jainism, gender, human-nonhuman relations, and the anthropology of religion. Her scholarship on Jainism includes many articles and a book, Transcendent: An Ethnography of a Jain Ascetic Community (2002).
Anop R. Vora is the current President of Federation of Jain Associations of North America (JAINA). He has published numerous articles on various topics including Anger, Forgiveness, Theory of Karma, Liberation through Meditation. His main area of interest is meditation.
Kristi L. Wiley received her Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley, where she teaches courses including religions of India and religion and ecology. She is the author of the Historical Dictionary of Jainism ( 2004)., and has published essays in several edited books and journals.
Symposium Speakers
Parveen K Jain received his Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He is Executive Vice President of Word Wide Marketing and Corporate Strategy at McAfee, Inc. Dr. Jain led JCNC’s project team to design and construct a Jain temple—the first one outside India with pran-prathishthit Shwetambar and Digambar images—in Milpitas California. He is a past President and the current Chairman of JCNC.
Jasvant Modi is the President of Ajit Health Care Inc. Dr. Modi is in the practice of internal medicine and gastroenterology in the city of Los Angeles, California. He is currently a Public Relations Officer for the Jain Center of Southern California where he has previously served in other roles. He is also involved serving the community and in raising funds for the Jain Center and other charities.
Hema Pokharna is a researcher at the University of Chicago, and director of Journeys of Life—an independent program aimed at promoting health and disease prevention. She has published in science, humanistic and religious journals. She was featured in newspapers and interviewed on radio. She is currently serving on the Board of the Parliament of World's religions.
Bipin Shah is the President and CEO of Kovair, and Co-Founder and Managing General Partner of INC3 Ventures. Mr. Shah is the immediate past President of the Jain Center of Northern California and one of the Founding Charter Members of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE). Currently, he is serving on the JAINA and JCNC Boards of Directors, and many advisory boards including that of Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation