Hindu Scientists, Astronauts and Business Leaders Abroad: 14 People Who Carried Their Faith Into Labs, Orbit and Boardrooms

Quick answer: Some of the best-known Hindus outside India work in science and business: former NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, JPL engineer Swati Mohan, Fields Medal mathematician Manjul Bhargava, former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, and Gulf business families such as the Shroffs of Dubai, who helped build the Hindu temple in Jebel Ali. Below are 14 profiles, with roles as of 9 October 2026 and a source for each person's Hindu connection.

Why scientists and business leaders matter to the diaspora

Hindu migration abroad came in two broad waves. Between 1834 and 1917, indentured labourers went to plantation colonies such as Mauritius, Trinidad, Guyana, Fiji and South Africa. From the 1960s, a second wave of students, doctors and engineers settled in the USA, UK, Canada and Australia, while traders and professionals built businesses in East Africa and the Gulf. Many of the people below are products of that second wave or their children.

For diaspora families, these careers carry a particular message. Parents often worry that a demanding career in a lab or a boardroom leaves no room for tradition. The people here suggest the opposite: an astronaut who packed a Ganesha murti, a CEO who lights a lamp every morning, and business founders whose first big project for the community was a temple or a Hindu university. Their stories are not about wealth or rank, but about keeping a practice alive while working at the top of a field.

Science, space and medicine

Sunita Williams (USA)

NASA astronaut from 1998 to 2025, whose retirement was announced in January 2026, and Commander of ISS Expedition 72 (2024-2025). She has spent 608 cumulative days in space, the second-most of any NASA astronaut, and made nine spacewalks totalling 62 hours 6 minutes, the most by a woman. She flew on Boeing's Starliner Crew Flight Test in 2024 and returned on SpaceX Crew-9 in 2025.

Hindu connection: she said in 2013 that she took a Ganesha idol and the Bhagavad Gita to space: "Ganesh has always been in my house... so he had to come with me to space." Source: The Quint.

Swati Mohan (USA)

Engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the guidance, navigation and controls operations lead for Mars 2020. During the Perseverance landing in February 2021, it was her voice that called "touchdown confirmed". She also worked on the GRAIL and OCO-3 missions.

Hindu connection: The Quint's profile notes that at home she speaks Kannada and is a practising Hindu. Source: The Quint.

Manjul Bhargava (USA)

Professor of Mathematics at Princeton University and, from July 2026, Interim Director of the Lodha Mathematical Sciences Institute. He won the Fields Medal in 2014 and has written about mathematical patterns in Sanskrit poetry.

Hindu connection: Princeton Alumni Weekly wrote that he "is a practicing Hindu, though more for ethical reasons than doctrinal ones". Source: Princeton Alumni Weekly.

Vivek Murthy (USA)

The 19th and 21st U.S. Surgeon General (2015-2017; 2021-January 2025) and, since October 2025, a board member of Common Sense Media. He was the youngest Surgeon General when sworn in, at 37, and the first Indian American in the post.

Hindu connection: he took his Surgeon General oath on the Bhagavad Gita in April 2015. Source: Hindu Press International.

Business leaders in North America

Indra Nooyi (USA)

An independent director of Honeywell since January 2026 (appointed in December 2025) and a member of Amazon's board, she was previously chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, serving as CEO from 2006 to 2018 and leading the company for 12 years. Her memoir, My Life in Full, was published in 2021.

Hindu connection: she wrote in the memoir: "I have a puja alcove in my home where I light my lamp every day." Source: Free Press Journal / PTI.

Vivek Ramaswamy (USA)

Founder of Roivant Sciences (2014), a 2024 presidential candidate and, in 2026, the Republican nominee for Governor of Ohio in the 3 November election. He would be the first Hindu U.S. governor if elected.

Hindu connection: he said publicly in 2023, "I'm Hindu," and "As we say in the Hindu tradition, God resides in each one of us." Source: NewsNation.

Ramesh Bhutada (USA)

Founder and CEO of Star Pipe Products in Houston. His 2023 pledge of $1 million to the Hindu University of America was the university's largest single gift, and in May 2026 he became the first recipient of its Honorary Doctorate in Hindu Stewardship.

Hindu connection: at the May 2026 ceremony he described his philanthropy as a duty of Dharma and urged the audience to "foster Hindu Unity". Source: Hindu University of America.

Business leaders in the United Kingdom

Akshata Murty

Investor and businesswoman, daughter of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy and author Sudha Murty. In 2026 she and Rishi Sunak gave the commencement address at Claremont McKenna College.

Hindu connection: she sang a bhajan with Rishi Sunak at a Diwali puja led by a Hindu priest in 2023, and joined him in prayers at Neasden Temple in 2024. Source: Business Today.

Lord Gadhia (Jitesh Gadhia)

Investment banker, life peer since 2016 and, since 2022, a member of the Bank of England's Court of Directors. He was born in Uganda; his family came to the UK in 1972.

Hindu connection: he swore his House of Lords oath on the Rig Veda in 2016, reportedly the first peer to do so. Source: Hindu Press International.

The late Gopichand P. Hinduja

Chairman of the Hinduja Group from 2023 to 2025, having become chairman after his elder brother Srichand Hinduja died in 2023; before that he was co-chairman. He died in London on 4 November 2025.

Hindu connection: Eastern Eye reported that his funeral included recitation of Bhagavad Gita verses, that Swami Chidanand Saraswati spoke at the memorial, and that guests were given a representation of Krishna. Source: Eastern Eye.

The late Lord Swraj Paul

Founder of the Caparo Group and a life peer, born in Jalandhar, India. An industrialist and philanthropist, he died in London on 21 August 2025, aged 94.

Hindu connection: Eastern Eye reported that his funeral was a Hindu service, with his portrait set against the Om symbol, reflections on the Hindu belief in the eternal soul, and a funeral notice quoting the Gita. Source: Eastern Eye.

Business leaders in the Gulf

The late Vasu Shroff (UAE)

Founder and chairman of the Regal Group, known as Dubai's "textile king", and head of the Sindhi Guru Darbar committee that runs the Bur Dubai temple. For decades he wanted a temple for Hindu worshippers in the UAE, a wish fulfilled by the Jebel Ali temple in 2022. He died in Dubai in April 2026, aged 85.

Hindu connection: "I had a dream to have our own temple... I used to pray day and night hoping we would get land for the temple." Source: The National.

Raju Shroff (UAE)

Chairman of the Regal Group since 2026, after his father Vasu Shroff's death, and a trustee of the Sindhi Guru Darbar temple trust. He led the planning and building of the Hindu Temple in Jebel Ali, which opened on 4 October 2022.

Hindu connection: he told The National that the temple's marble carvings "depict Hindu mythology" and give "a feeling of peace and harmony". Source: The National.

Ravi Pillai (UAE)

Founder and chairman of the RP Group, which he built after moving to Saudi Arabia in 1978. He received Bahrain's Medal of Efficiency in December 2024.

Hindu connection: the chairman of the Guruvayur temple called him an "ardent devotee of Guruvayurappan", and a vehicle pooja for his new helicopter was held at Guruvayur in 2022. Source: Onmanorama.

Summary table

What connects them

Two threads run through these lives. The first is private practice kept up under public pressure: a lamp lit before a working day, a scripture packed for a mission, a mathematician drawn to the patterns of Sanskrit verse. The second is giving back to the community's institutions. In Dubai, the Shroff family's decades-long wish became a temple; in Houston, a pipe manufacturer funded Hindu higher education. For many diaspora Hindus, those temples and schools are where children first learn the festivals, the stories and the language of prayer.

Frequently asked questions

Which astronaut took the Bhagavad Gita and Ganesha to space?

Sunita Williams said in 2013 that she took a Ganesha idol and the Bhagavad Gita to space, explaining that Ganesh had always been in her house, so he had to come with her.

Which Hindu mathematician won the Fields Medal?

Manjul Bhargava of Princeton University won the Fields Medal in 2014. Princeton Alumni Weekly described him as a practising Hindu, "more for ethical reasons than doctrinal ones".

Who gave the 'touchdown confirmed' call for NASA's Perseverance rover?

Swati Mohan, the guidance, navigation and controls operations lead for Mars 2020 at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in February 2021. The Quint described her as a practising Hindu who speaks Kannada at home.

Is Indra Nooyi Hindu?

In her memoir My Life in Full (2021), the former PepsiCo CEO wrote that she has a puja alcove at home where she lights her lamp every day.

Who built the Hindu temple in Jebel Ali, Dubai?

The temple, which opened on 4 October 2022, fulfilled a long-held wish of the late Vasu Shroff, and his son Raju Shroff, a trustee, led its planning and building, according to The National.

How were people chosen for this list?

Only people whose Hindu faith or practice is shown by their own public words or by reputable reports. Indian heritage or business success alone was not enough.

Editor's note

Editor's note (9 October 2026): Inclusion is based on public statements or reputable reports of each person's Hindu faith or practice, linked in each entry. Roles are as of 9 October 2026. We do not rank people or report wealth. Inclusion implies no view on anyone's business or politics.

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