An accidental job interview led Dhiraj Mehra to his current role.
A Notre Dame alumnus from Mumbai and member of the Notre Dame Alumni Club of India, Mehra became more closely involved with the University when he helped coordinate a visit to India for then-President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., in 2014.
Then, in 2015, Jonathan Noble, senior assistant provost for internationalization, reached out to Mehra to ask for his advice on hiring a new director in India. Mehra met Noble in Hong Kong to discuss the qualities that would be important to the role and how to find the right person in India.
He didn’t realize the conversation might also be an informal interview until Noble said, “You know, you’re the perfect person for this. Why don’t you consider doing it?”
Mehra, who received a degree in business administration from Notre Dame in 1996, had recently sold his business in the garment industry and had planned to retire. But as he thought over the question, he remembered a phrase a Notre Dame professor had emphasized decades earlier on campus: Be the change.
This position was a chance to become part of the change Mehra wanted to see—to help Notre Dame
build stronger connections in India—and he knew he couldn’t pass it by.
Mehra applied for the position and became director for initiatives in India in early 2016. In his role, he focuses on three key areas: He works to strengthen the research that Notre Dame faculty are doing in India, through on-the-ground connections
and partnerships. He seeks to expand mobility, in both directions, by encouraging more Notre Dame students to travel to and engage with India, while seeking out ways for the Indian community of scholars and students to engage with Notre Dame. And, he is focused on outreach, building community among Indian alumni, among parents and families of current students, and with the University’s partners in the country.
“Our strategy for India is about holistic engagement. We are not directly involved in undergraduate admissions or becoming more visible to schools here—although that is an outcome of the work we do,” he said. “I’m just always looking for how else I can help make people aware of the opportunities Notre Dame has to offer.”
Likewise, Mehra wants the Notre Dame community to know more about what India has to offer, and he sees a natural alignment between the two cultures.
“I tell our students that in anyone’s life today, wherever you are in the world, one in three people that you meet is going to be of Indian or South Asian origin—whether it’s your colleague, your doctor, your teacher, or your friend. And that’s a large number. Being able to understand this part of the world and this culture is a huge advantage to have.
“And, in terms of Notre Dame, the mission here calls us to be dedicated to service to others. That’s an important part of Indian culture, as well. So, to be able to engage more with a culture that is so similar to what we are striving to build at Notre Dame just makes sense to me.”
Making those connections is especially important to Mehra because when he first came to Notre Dame as an undergrad in 1992, he didn’t know much about the University. Because of that, he admits that Notre Dame was not his first choice school—or even his fifth.
“I’m sure many students in the States at the time understood what a special place Notre Dame is and what it means to be here, but for me, it was just a beautiful campus in a brochure, with a beautiful Golden Dome,” he said.
“But by the time I graduated, Notre Dame and that Dome had taken on a whole new meaning. I understood what it meant to live under the Dome, and that is something I truly appreciated. Today, 30-some years after I came to Notre Dame, if I were back to applying for schools, it would be my top choice.”
When Mehra returned to India after graduation, first to work in his father’s textile business, and later as he launched his own business, his Notre Dame experience stayed with him.
He credits the friends and faculty he encountered, and in particular, his host family in South Bend—whom he stays in contact with and still visits every time he comes to campus—with helping to create a lasting home for him at Notre Dame.
“Some of my best friends around the world are still my friends from my time at Notre Dame, or people I’ve met along the way that are connected to the University,” Mehra said. “You know, being in the textile and garment industries, I look at weaves, and I think Notre Dame has kind of woven itself into every aspect of my life.”
Mehra added another thread to his Notre Dame identity two years ago when he and his wife became proud Notre Dame parents. His son, Samay Mehra, is now a junior studying economics and finance, and this was definitely his first-choice school.
“My son grew up learning about, knowing Notre Dame in a way I didn’t—that spirit of togetherness, of family that makes it such an incredible place,” he said. “And I’m so glad he is experiencing that, too.”
Mehra is now an integral part of building that sense of belonging and family in India, as well, and he often serves as the first person to welcome and guide Notre Dame students, staff, and faculty when they arrive in the country. It’s a role he and his wife have embraced, frequently hosting Notre Dame groups who come to India in their home for dinner.
For his colleagues on campus and around the world, Mehra wants them to know he is always available for them to reach out.
“I love being there for people and helping people in any way I can, and I love being a part of someone’s positive experience in this world—no matter how big or small it is.
“When I started this position, it felt like I was able to give to others some of what I got from Notre Dame, and just pay it forward, which I love. And, nine years later, that’s why I still love doing what I’m doing.”
