Monday, August 19, 2013: Board Vice Chairman Gurvinder Pal Singh, better known as “GP Singh,” believes the San Antonio Area Foundation will have a greater and greater impact on the community as the foundation grows.
 GP Singh, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the San Antonio Area Foundation |
“I would say that the goal is to get to $1 billion in assets so that we can provide more scholarships and more funds to all the good non-profit organizations which are trying to serve our community,” Singh says. “We want to make a big, big impact. We don’t want to just have an impact in one part of the community.”
The Area Foundation managed more than $250 million in assets at the beginning of August.
The native of the Punjab area of northern India may speak and dress differently from most South Texans, but he has spent most of his adult life here.
“I have lived here for 34 years,” says Singh, who turned 60 on June 30. “My children were born here. They got educated here. I ran a business here. I employed over 400 people here. So, I am defined by San Antonio and I feel it’s my duty and frankly a privilege to give back to the community that has been so good to me. It really is a privilege to give back.”
Singh earned a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering before moving to the United States to attend graduate school at Drexel University in Philadelphia. He earned a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering in 1979.
As soon as he finished his Ph.D., he moved to San Antonio. He had been here for a conference in 1976 and liked it. He worked for Southwest Research Institute for six years, then started teaching at the University of Texas at San Antonio in 1985 and branched off into consulting.
He formed a company called Karta Technologies in 1986, developing software designed to make power plants reliable and maintainable. Then the company started doing contract work for the U.S. Department of Defense, providing engineering services, information technology, networking, software development and web-based training. Karta grew to become the largest San Antonio-based, privately held defense contractor. Singh sold the company in 2007 to NCI Information Systems of Reston, Va.
Community involvement
He has devoted much of his time and energy since then to community volunteer service, including with Trinity University, the World Affairs Council, Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, Methodist Ministries and Keystone School. He also served on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas from 2006-11 and has served on the bank’s Advisory Council since 2011.
 GP Singh (left, foreground) volunteering with fellow Sikhs at the San Antonio Food Bank. |
His involvement with the Area Foundation began in 2003 after meeting then-CEO Reggie Williams, then accepting an invitation to serve on the Area Foundation’s Investment Committee.
He says the standard of care that he follows is, “Would I do that with my money?”
Singh wears a beard and turban as a follower of the Sikh religion. He is deeply involved in faith-related activities, including teaching a youth class and helping plan for a new Sikh temple in northwestern San Antonio.
He and his wife, Winkey, have been married for 33 years. They have four sons ranging in age from 23 to 30.
“She is the key to my winning,” Singh says. “There is no greater gift than having a wonderful spouse. It makes your life.”
The couple never miss a Spurs game when they are in town.
Singh has high hopes for the Area Foundation’s potential to make life better for the San Antonio region, including improving education and vocational training and even addressing challenges such as providing alternatives to predatory lending.
“Personally, I am very excited about where we are with the Area Foundation and I am really expecting great things to happen to the Area Foundation and to the mission and to the people it serves,” he says. “I think Dennis (Dennis Noll, the Area Foundation’s CEO and President) is a great leader and that we will surpass everybody’s expectations.”
Joel Williams is Director of Public Relations for the San Antonio Area Foundation.