Who Is Abraham George? The Founder of Shanti Bhavan
Who is Abraham George? He is Abraham M. George, the Indian-born American entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded Shanti Bhavan, a free residential school in Tamil Nadu for children from India's lowest socioeconomic class. Born in Kerala, he served as an Indian Army officer, built a currency-risk software company in the New York area, and returned to India in 1995 to set up The George Foundation. Shanti Bhavan opened in 1997.
What is Abraham George known for?
Abraham George is known mainly for Shanti Bhavan, which started with 48 preschoolers, 24 girls and 24 boys. Children usually join at about age four, and the school supports them through college at no cost to their families, who live on a few dollars a day. A second campus, Shanti Bhavan 2, opened north of Bangalore in 2024 with 60 young children.
Before Shanti Bhavan, Abraham George worked in international finance in the United States from the mid-1970s, first at Chemical Bank and then as founder of Multinational Computer Models, Inc. (MCM), which made foreign-exchange risk software. SunGard acquired the company in 1998.
He has written three books on international finance and three on social service. The latest is the 2026 memoir Mountains to Cross: Finding Life's Purpose in Service.
Where is Abraham George from?
Abraham George was born in Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), Kerala, to Mathew and Aleyamma George. Both were academics. His mother, a physicist, worked for NASA in Huntsville, Alabama, and moved to the United States before he did.
He left home at 14 to enter the National Defence Academy at Khadakwasla. He later became an American citizen.
What did Abraham George do before philanthropy?
Indian Army officer
After training at the National Defence Academy and the Indian Military Academy, George became an artillery officer. He served on India's borders with China and Pakistan, was injured on duty and rose to the rank of captain before leaving the army.
He has said the injury changed his thinking. "It led me to think of devoting my life, at some stage, to serving the poor," he told Authority Magazine in 2022.
Study in Alabama and New York
In 1968 he followed his mother to Alabama, where he began graduate study. He then moved to New York University's business school, now NYU Stern, and earned an MBA in 1973 and a PhD in 1975.
Banking and software
In 1975 George joined the international division of Chemical Bank, now part of JPMorgan Chase, and wrote currency-risk software in his spare time. He later left the bank and started MCM in the basement of his house in Montclair, New Jersey.
By 1990 the company had offices in New York, New Jersey and London. That year First Boston approached him about a joint venture in international financial risk management, and he also served as a managing director at Credit Suisse First Boston. After SunGard bought MCM in 1998, he served as a vice chairman at SunGard until 2000.
Books on finance
George wrote Foreign Exchange Management and the Multinational Corporation (1978), co-edited the two-volume International Finance Handbook (1983) with the finance scholar Ian H. Giddy, and wrote Protecting Shareholder Value: A Guide to Managing Financial Market Risk (1996).
Why did Abraham George return to India?
In 1995, after more than two decades abroad, Abraham George moved back to India and set up The George Foundation in Bangalore. "I began to feel that time was sort of running out for me in terms of being youthful enough to do something for the poor," he told NYU Stern's magazine. He chose not to seek outside funding for the foundation's first ten years.
Shanti Bhavan became its main project. The foundation also ran a lead-poisoning program, Project Lead-Free, which contributed to public-health advocacy around India's April 2000 phase-out of leaded petrol, and a rural medical center offering free care to nearby villages.
In 2000 George founded the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media in Bangalore, a postgraduate journalism school that trained journalists for more than two decades. He wrote about rural poverty in his 2004 book India Untouched: The Forgotten Face of Rural Poverty.
Which Abraham George? Not to be confused with the Texas politician
A search for "who is Abraham George" often turns up a different man with the same name. That Abraham George, born in 1979, is a Texas political figure and a former chair of the Republican Party of Texas.
The Abraham George profiled here is a separate person. He served in the Indian Army in the 1960s, worked in finance and software in the New York area, and has devoted most of the three decades since 1995 to The George Foundation and Shanti Bhavan.
Who is Abraham George today?
Today Abraham George leads Shanti Bhavan as its founder and chief executive officer. He works alongside his son Ajit George, who became chief operating officer in January 2024. The original campus is in Baliganapalli, in the Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu, near Hosur and about 90 minutes from Bangalore.
According to Shanti Bhavan, 98 percent of its students complete a college degree, and 99 percent of graduates give 20 to 60 percent of their salaries to their families, communities and other children in need.
His memoir, Mountains to Cross, came out from Greenleaf Book Group Press in January 2026, with all author proceeds going to Shanti Bhavan Children's Project. It won a Silver award from the Nonfiction Authors Association. In March 2026 he appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show with a Shanti Bhavan graduate.
Earlier recognition includes NYU Stern's 2007 Stewart Satter Social Entrepreneur of the Year award and a GOPIO Philanthropy Award in 2025.
Abraham George timeline
- 1968: moves to Alabama
- 1973 and 1975: earns an MBA and a PhD from New York University
- 1970s: founds Multinational Computer Models
- 1995: returns to India and sets up The George Foundation
- 1997: opens Shanti Bhavan
- 1998: SunGard acquires MCM
- 2000: founds the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media
- 2024: Shanti Bhavan 2 opens
- 2026: publishes Mountains to Cross
Frequently asked questions
Who is Abraham George?
Abraham George is the founder and CEO of Shanti Bhavan, which runs free boarding schools in southern India for children from the country's lowest socioeconomic class. He is a former Indian Army captain who built a financial software company in the United States before returning to India in 1995. He also founded The George Foundation in Bangalore.
What books has Abraham George written?
Abraham George has written three books on international corporate finance, including Protecting Shareholder Value (1996). His books on social service include India Untouched (2004), about rural poverty, and the memoir Mountains to Cross (2026).
What organizations did Abraham George found?
In the 1970s, Abraham George founded Multinational Computer Models, Inc., a currency-risk software company. In India he set up The George Foundation in 1995 and opened Shanti Bhavan in 1997. He also founded the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media in Bangalore, a postgraduate journalism school that ran for more than two decades.
Where did Abraham George study?
Abraham George trained at India's National Defence Academy and the Indian Military Academy. After moving to the United States, he studied in Alabama and then earned an MBA in 1973 and a PhD in 1975 from New York University.
Is Abraham George on Netflix?
Shanti Bhavan, the school Abraham George founded, is the subject of Daughters of Destiny, a four-part Netflix documentary series released in July 2017. It follows five girls at the school over seven years.