Bahethi Family Foundation STEM education

Our story

From Jodhpur to NASA Goddard

We believe that everyone should receive an excellent education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Our goal is to help empower the educational community in STEM, which in turn will help close the educational gap.

The family

  1. 1960s · Jodhpur

    Om and Saraswati (Sara) Bahethi left Jodhpur, Rajasthan. The previous site describes their story as one shared by many immigrants from India. Their family name had been Baheti. They added an “h,” making Bahethi, after they came to the United States. Om liked seven as a lucky number, and the seven letters were a way of talking about the family staying in unison. The same page once said that unison covered “science, technology, education and mathematics.” The foundation’s mission statement says engineering, and that is the wording used here.

  2. 1967 · SUNY Buffalo

    Om left the Thar Desert, his wife Saraswati, and their oldest son, Ravi, to study for a Ph.D. in nuclear physics at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

  3. 1970 · The family together

    Saraswati followed with Ravi. Their youngest son, Praveen, was born. During those Buffalo years the family received scholarships, federal and state aid, and help from friends and neighbors.

  4. 1977 · SSAI

    After Om worked at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center for a contracting company, he and Sara founded Science Systems and Applications, Inc. (SSAI). The company site is ssaihq.com.

  5. 2012 · This foundation

    Om and Sara founded the Bahethi Family Foundation to empower people in science and technology. The previous website said they have donated over $3 million to scholarships, schools, colleges, and universities in the Northeast United States and in Rajasthan, India.

  6. 2021 · SSAI leadership

    The previous site said that 44 years after SSAI began, Chairman Om and Secretary Saraswati passed leadership to their son, Praveen.

Team

These are the four people named on the previous website, with the titles published there.

Portrait of Om Bahethi, a founder of the Bahethi Family Foundation
Om Bahethi Founder

Nuclear physics Ph.D., SUNY Buffalo. Worked at NASA Goddard, then co-founded SSAI in 1977.

Portrait of Sara Bahethi, a founder of the Bahethi Family Foundation
Sara Bahethi Founder

Saraswati (Sara) Bahethi. The previous site also lists her as a founder, with Om, in 2012.

Portrait of Shilpa Bahethi, president of the Bahethi Family Foundation
Shilpa Bahethi President

The previous website listed the title only. A longer biography was not published.

Portrait of Praveen Bahethi, a trustee of the Bahethi Family Foundation
Praveen Bahethi Trustee

Youngest son of Om and Sara. The previous site said SSAI’s chair and secretary passed leadership to him in 2021. A foundation biography was not published.

Location

Mailing location: Vienna, Virginia. The previous site’s header said Washington, DC, and the footer said Vienna, Virginia. This site uses Vienna, Virginia, as the mailing location. A street address was not published here because the only street address on the old site was leftover theme text.

Scholarship presentations described in the program materials take place at SSAI and at NASA Goddard in Greenbelt, Maryland.