Image: courtesy - Amarjit Singh Chandan.
People
Prof Balwant Singh:
He Shepherded the Sikh Youth of America
Dr Bhai HARBANS LAL
BALWANT SINGH
Born: Naushahra, District Sargodha, Punjab, on August 15 1927
Died: Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, USA, December 30, 2012
Sikh scholar-activist Balwant Singh, Professor Emeritus of Management at Bucknell University, passed away on December 30, 2012. He was 85.
Prof. Balwant Singh was known for his Sikh scholarship and pioneering work in hosting Sikh Youth Camps in Pennsylvania. Working with him and Dr. I J Singh, all three spent many weekends in exploring and organizing ways to attract Sikh youth to community-building projects, particularly youth retreats in North America.
The first youth retreat under his aegis was held in Prof Balwant Singh’s facility in 1974 where he served its director. Since then the retreat model was adopted others throughout North America; presently thousands of Sikh youth are attending these retreats every year.
Besides making scholarly presentations on Sikh platforms, he was a dedicated and resourceful colleague in the youth camps as well as many other community projects. His wife Bimla Kaur was his constant supporter in his undertakings.
Once the Sikh youth retreats took off the ground and became self-supporting, Balwant Singh and Bimla Kaur began to support Hemkunt Foundation in organizing youth competitions and youth education. They reviewed and selected books on Sikhism for the International Sikh Youth Symposium held annually in various countries in the Western Hemisphere. Each year thousands of Sikh boys and girls read these books and made presentations at regional and national levels.
Dr. Balwant Singh completed his degrees in economics from Punjab University and the Wharton School, as well as a Master's degree in Statistics from the Delhi School of Economics. He was a research fellow with Nobel Laureate Lawrence R. Klein at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Balwant Singh joined the Bucknell faculty in 1967 and retired in 1993. While at Bucknell he held the Christian R. Lindback Chair in Business Administration and served as a visiting scholar at Cambridge University in 1979 and 1987. In 1993, he and his wife jointly received the Burma-Bucknell Award for International and Intercultural Understanding.
Sikhs around the world will miss Professor Balwant Singh. We celebrate his life.
January 5, 2012