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{{Short description|Indian educationist and social activist}}
{{Notability|Biography|date=August 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Balaji Sampath
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1973|1|17}}
| birth_place = [[Chennai]], India
| death_date =
| death_place =
| alma_mater = [[IIT Madras]], <br>[[University of Maryland, College Park]], USA (PhD)
| occupation = Founder and Secretary, AID [[India]] & CPO of AhaGuru
| website = {{URL|www.ahaguru.com}}
| footnotes =
}}

'''Balaji Sampath''' (born 17 January 1973)<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://ahaguru.academia.edu/|title=Dr. Balaji Sampath|website=ahaguru.academia.edu|access-date=2017-09-03}}</ref> is an Indian educationist, scientist,<ref name=":6" /> and the founder and secretary of [[Association for India's Development]] - [[India]] chapter,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pressreader.com/india/the-hindu/20170703/281612420422136|title=Breaking the English Barrier|date=3 July 2017|website=The Hindu|access-date=28 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thehinducentre.com/events/article5544390.ece|title=Event report: Making RTE Effective: Strategies, Constraints, Outcomes (includes video)|website=The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy|access-date=28 August 2017}}</ref> an India-based non-profit NGO that conducts science teaching and primary school programs for children to aid their educational development.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/the-e-street-entrepreneurs/232549|title=The E-Street Entrepreneurs|last=Anjali|first=Puri|date=18 September 2006|website=Outlook|access-date=31 August 2017}}</ref> He is also the founder and CPO of AhaGuru, an educational online coaching startup that provides training courses on different subjects online.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Somu |first=Kumar |title=AhaGuru.com: Education start-up's on-demand online coaching |url=https://medium.com/@somukumar/ahaguru-com-education-start-ups-on-demand-online-coaching-63652a503638 |access-date=28 August 2017 |website=Medium}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Tamasomaa Jyotirgamaya - From Darkness to Light - NGM |url=http://www.psbbschools.ac.in/news/2015/11/25/tamasomaa_jyotirgamaya.html |access-date=2017-09-04 |website=www.psbbschools.ac.in}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite news|url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/education-start-ups-on-demand-online-coaching-new-trend-among-high-school-students-117041100669_1.html|title=Education start-ups on-demand online coaching: New trend among high school students|last=Ani|date=11 April 2017|newspaper=Business Standard India|access-date=29 August 2017}}</ref> He is also an author of science books for primary and higher level education.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|url=http://www.sodews.org/our-team|title=Our team {{!}} SODEWS|website=www.sodews.org|access-date=2017-09-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905050757/http://www.sodews.org/our-team|archive-date=2017-09-05|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Balaji was born in Chennai, [[India]] on 17 January 1973 into a family where both of his parents were government workers.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.eurekachildusa.org/people/balaji.html|title=Eureka Child - An AID-India Education Initiative|website=www.eurekachildusa.org|access-date=2017-09-04}}</ref> Because his parents were often transferred to different locations for their government jobs, as a child Balaji was exposed to a number of schools across [[India]]. He had difficulty in understanding scientific subjects due to "ineffective teaching". Early in life, he devised his own system of analysis and arriving at solutions.<ref name=":2" />

== Education ==
Balaji appeared for [[IIT JEE]] and obtained All India Rank 4 in 1990,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/education-start-ups-on-demand-online-coaching-new-trend-among-high-school-students-117041100669_1.html|title=Education start-ups on-demand online coaching: New trend among high school students|last=ANI|date=2017-04-11|work=Business Standard India|access-date=2017-12-11}}</ref> considered one of the most difficult competitive exams in India. He completed his B.Tech. degree in Electrical Engineering from [[Indian Institute of Technology Madras]] in 1994,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.eurekaschool.org/about/team.php|title=Eureka School - Where Every Child Matters|website=www.eurekaschool.org|access-date=2017-09-04}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://alumni.iitm.ac.in/citations-2012-distinguished-alumnus-awards-recipients/|title=Citations: 2012 Distinguished Alumnus Awards Recipients {{!}} Office Of Alumni Relations|website=alumni.iitm.ac.in|language=en-US|access-date=2017-09-04}}</ref> and his doctorate in Electronics and communication Engineering from [[University of Maryland, College Park]].<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=https://allevents.in/bellevue/effective-education-initiatives-for-rural-india-a-talk-by-dr-balaji-sampath/458062984366057#|title=Effective Education Initiatives for rural India - A talk by Dr. Balaji Sampath|website=allevents.in|language=en|access-date=2017-09-04}}</ref>

== Career ==
Balaji started his career as a volunteer for AID United States chapter from 1994 while he was doing his doctorate.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=CAP/2011/09/29&PageLabel=14&EntityId=Ar01400&ViewMode=HTML|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003215602/http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=CAP/2011/09/29&PageLabel=14&EntityId=Ar01400&ViewMode=HTML|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 October 2011|title=They live, work & prosper in foreign lands but sweat it out for India|last=Umachandran|first=Shalini|access-date=3 September 2017}}</ref> After completing his PhD degree, he returned to India to work full-time on social issues in 1997 and founded AID India.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Tully |first=Mark |title=Non Stop India |publisher=Penguin Group |year=2011 |isbn=9780670083893 |location=Allen Lane, India |pages=156}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Effective People|last=Rao|first=T.V|publisher=Random House India|date=18 December 2015|isbn=978-8184005837|location=India}}</ref> He worked with the Centre for Ecology and Rural Development and the Peoples Science Movement on Health and Education Programs. Balaji organized Peoples Health assembly campaign in 2000 at a national level and began campaigning for better public education and access to healthcare, especially in the rural areas.<ref name=":0" />

AID India trains teachers in government schools with the goal of improving the quality of teaching, especially for science and mathematics by using innovative techniques and devising educational aid.<ref name=":1" /> The mission of AID India is to empower socially disadvantaged sections of the society through socio-economic development programs, education, providing micro credit, and providing training in the areas of health, human rights and utilization of resources for income generation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dutta |first=Rita |date=August 2012 |title=Social Entrepreneurs: Transforming India |journal=I Will Impact |volume=2 |pages=16}}</ref>

In 2011, Balaji started Ahaguru.com, an online education portal to enhance science and math learning and problem-solving skills of middle and high school students. The startup, "a pioneer in online coaching", provides training courses completely online. It covers physics, chemistry and math for classes 7 to 12 for CBSE, NEET and [[JEE]]. The full year course is modelled like a classroom with teachers explaining concepts and showing how to solve different questions.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Only-2-5-of-students-in-IIT-race-from-TN/articleshow/34704215.cms|title=Only 2.5% of students in IIT race from TN|last=Ramya{{!}}|first=M|website=[[The Times of India]] |date=6 May 2014|access-date=30 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/Itrsquos-payback-time/article15914119.ece|title=It's Payback Time|date=9 May 2009|website=The Hindu|access-date=2 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://in.news.yahoo.com/education-start-ups-demand-online-coaching-trend-among-102650868.html|title=Education start-ups on-demand online coaching: New trend among high school students|last=Ani|date=11 April 2017|website=Yahoo News|access-date=4 September 2017}}</ref>

== Awards ==
* IIT Madras Distinguished Alumnus Award 2012.<ref name=":3" />
* Times of India Social Impact Award for AID, 2011 from Prime Minister, Dr. [[Manmohan Singh]] in 2011.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://timessocialawards.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/awards.cms|title=Social Impact Awards 2012-2013 - The Times of India|website=timessocialawards.timesofindia.indiatimes.com|access-date=2017-09-04}}</ref>
* Ashoka Fellowship for innovative work on Science Education.<ref name=":5" />
* Lemelson Inventor Certificate for Science Education.<ref name=":3" />
* MIT Indus Technovator's Award 2005 for Village Libraries and Science Education.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/technovators/gita/2005_winners_grassroots.html|title=Global Indus Technovator Awards|website=web.mit.edu|access-date=2017-09-04}}</ref>
* Rotary Distinguished Service Award by the Rotary Club of Madras South.<ref name=":3" />
* [[Pratham]] USA Achievement Award 2006 for improving reading skills in Tamil Nadu.<ref name=":3" />
* Association for India's Development JS Fellowship, 1998.<ref name=":2" />
* All India Rank 4 in the IITJEE, 1990.<ref name=":4" />

== See also ==
* [[List of Indian Institute of Technology Madras alumni]]
* [[Association for India's Development]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://vimeo.com/17646454 Balaji Sampath at TEDxYouth @Chennai - Talk on "Empowering Rural India"]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sampath, Balaji}}
[[Category:1973 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Educators from Tamil Nadu]]

Balaji Sampath - Revision history

imported>HAUDesiree at 05:56, 6 February 2026