Dr. Chandragiri Dinaker "CD" Rao

Chandragiri Dinaker Rao, popularly known as “CD”, longtime Austin resident, came to the US from India in 1972, and earned his PhD in Chemical Engineering from UT Austin in 1978. He taught engineering courses at UT Austin and ACC (1994-2008). Teaching was his passion and he especially felt pride and kinship towards his ACC students, who he felt were very motivated and hard-working, and were often older students returning to school, as he was himself when he came to the US for his graduate studies with his family. He was a loving father, husband, and grandfather and a father figure and mentor for many in the community.

This endowed scholarship has been established in his memory after his passing on Sept 5th, 2020 by Rohit Dhamankar to support students pursuing engineering studies.