Promod Vohra's Journey from Student to Dean Inspires Investment in Education
By Lia Kizilbash Gillet
Anju and Promod Vohra, M.S. ’88, Ed.D. ’93, are comprehensive supporters and advocates of NIU.
(Photo: Promod Vohra)
With only 20 dollars in his pocket, one semester’s worth of tuition, and the confidence instilled in him by his parents, Promod Vohra, M.S. ’88, Ed.D. ’93, left his home in India and came to the United States to pursue a master’s degree.
NIU set him on a path of self-discovery—first as a student, then as faculty and ultimately during a decade-plus career as dean of the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology (CEET). At NIU, he uncovered his talent for teaching and the contributions he could make in the classroom.
“One of the best ways to invest in yourself is to invest in your education,” Vohra said. “My parents were always very loving and focused on education. They taught me that education is something nobody can take away from you. They gave me confidence. They always told me, ‘You can do it. You can do whatever you want to do.’”
Today, Vohra and his wife, Anju, are giving back to the place Vohra says “invested in him” and “made his success possible” by naming the NIU Foundation as a beneficiary in their estate and directing funds to CEET and NIU Athletics.
“I attribute my success to NIU,” Vohra said. “NIU gave me the resources so I could afford an education and continued to invest in my career. I evaluated my life and NIU’s role in my career and thought, ‘Why wouldn’t I want others to follow and have similar success?’ Just like parents want for their own children.”
Vohra’s goal is simple: to make an imprint on the lives of others by helping them build the confidence to invest in themselves—the way his parents did for him.
His father used to talk to him about being an engineer, a doctor, or an attorney, and his mother made sure Vohra kept up with his homework. He lived at home, attended college in Delhi, India, and studied engineering. After earning his bachelor's degree, he was offered a sales and marketing engineer job at Phillips. In 1983, a month before Vohra was to marry Anju, his father passed away.
“My father had always talked to me about going abroad and studying for a higher degree,” Vohra said.
Discovering NIU and Teaching
His father’s dream and his family’s values weighed on him. After about two and a half years, Vohra and Anju left Delhi for the University of Wisconsin. Vohra completed a semester there, earning credits for a master’s in electrical engineering, before transferring to NIU.
“I missed being close to family, and my cousin, who is like a sister to me, used to live in Freeport,” Vohra said. “She told me NIU had a wonderful College of Engineering and suggested I see a department chair there. I went to talk to Dr. Newell, and he said, ‘Promod, we’d love to have you. You’ll be the first graduate student in the college, and we will give you a lab assistantship.’”
Vohra needed the money at the time, and being the first graduate student at the college appealed to him. In 1986, he transferred to NIU, where he remained for 30 years.
“The journey was wonderful,” Vohra said. “The assistantship took care of my tuition and paid me about $250 monthly. That was enough for me to buy groceries, and at that time, Anju and I had a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter. We were happy at NIU.”
Then, one day, his professor asked him to fill in and teach a class, and Vohra’s path drastically changed direction.
“Dr. Newell had to attend a meeting and asked me to teach a class in which I was a student,” Vohra said. “I was really very scared because I didn’t know the content, but I prepared. I was surprised when Dr. Newell’s meeting finished early, and he walked into the classroom and sat down. After class, he said, ‘Well, you’ve got the gift of teaching.’”
Vohra was offered to teach a course the following semester and taught three technology courses before finishing his master’s degree. He taught while earning his doctorate, and upon completion, he was selected for an assistant professor position. After moving through the ranks of a professor, Vohra was named associate dean, then acting dean, and finally, 12 years as dean until 2016.
Innovating as CEET Dean
During his leadership tenure, Vohra developed innovative approaches, taking the college to a new level. Through partnerships with more than 200 companies in the area and positioning the college to graduate students with the skills necessary to meet the needs of the local workforce, CEET often saw its student placement rate at 100 percent. He created partnerships in Rockford and brought in federal grants with the help of former NIU President John Peters to invest in the city, rejuvenating manufacturing and creating more jobs to enrich the region’s economy.
Vohra worked to “grow our own so we could retain our own,” he said. With the help of corporations donating roughly six million dollars, CEET was able to start a college in Rockford in partnership with Rock Valley College. CEET created pathways with almost 25 community colleges and worked with several international countries to bring in students.
He was proud to see the demand and college grow with new health systems engineering, biomedical engineering and mechatronics programs. Vohra said serving the place that had given him so much was rewarding, and he had the pleasure of partnering and serving with many of the faculty who had taught him as a student. Faculty including Earl Hansen, Dennis Stoia, and Darrell Newell, to name a few.
Re-engineering Retirement
Upon his NIU retirement, Vohra served as chief of human resources and chief talent strategy officer for technology company ACS Solutions before taking on the role of president for Proficient Business Systems, Inc., an auxiliary company. After six years working in the corporate sector, Vohra entered his second retirement.
Now, responding to his internal call to teach, innovate, and help others grow—and his inability to sit idle for too long—Vohra is busy working on three distinct entrepreneurial endeavors.
“My kids came to me a few years ago and said, ‘Dad, we want to start some businesses,’” Vohra said. “We looked at what lines of entrepreneurship held promise for the future and started first as angel investors in seven or eight companies in healthcare, technology, real estate and logistics. My kids are the driving force for this next chapter of my career; that’s certain.”
Vohra and his son, Neil Vohra, are growing Prime HealthCare Staffing, a company with a successful history of more than 25 years working with healthcare providers. As its chairman and CEO, Vohra is eyeing global partnerships and developing innovative methods for staffing healthcare jobs to solve current and future healthcare staffing shortages.
As co-founder and president of SchoolnBeyond, Vohra is joined by his cousin, Vinita Ahuja, and her son, Utkarsh Ahuja, to help prepare students from Southeast Asia for higher education in the U.S. SchoolnBeyond will teach students about life in the U.S., study habits, and things they need to know to thrive while pursuing higher education in the U.S. and eventually help launch their careers. Vohra hopes to transform youth into global success stories like his.
Lastly, Vohra acquired PMA Friction Products with his daughter, Divya Behl ’05, M.S. ’08, and son-in-law, Chris Kaiser, M.B.A. ’13. Behl serves as PMA Friction Products’ president and CEO, with Vohra as chairman and advisor. One of Vohra’s fondest NIU memories was handing Behl her diploma at graduation after earning her bachelor’s and then her master’s in industrial engineering. Behl is also an NIU Alumni Association Board of Directors member and is pursuing her Ph.D. Vohra is proud of Behl for pursuing her Ph.D., although he knows it will be one degree he will not have the honor of handing to her.
Anju and Promod Vohra's named bench resides in the Barsema
Alumni & Visitors Center (Photo: NIU)
A Family Commitment
Discovering new opportunities excites Vohra, and he is grateful to have Anju by his side.
“My best support in my life has been my wife,” he said. “She came from a very good family but did everything with me to make us successful. We distributed newspapers, she babysat, we did everything to make ends meet and never once did she complain about our tough journey. She was always positive that we’d end up somewhere better and is a ray of light when mine is dim.”
Anju served first as a certified cardiac sonographer and then as the technical director of cardiology services at Northwestern Medicine – KishHealth for over 25 years. She is a proud NIU supporter and fan and fondly remembers her days there. She and Vohra remain connected with the NIU community and cherish the gift of their NIU friendships. The couple has a tight-knit family of three children, their loving spouses and seven grandchildren.
“All of our children have connections to NIU in some capacity,” said Anju. “We have shared interests in philanthropy with organizations that have been a source of strength for our family. We have a room at Kishwaukee Hospital named in memory of my parents and a bench at the Barsema Alumni & Visitors Center at NIU. We have raised kind, respectful and responsible citizens; I think that is our biggest accomplishment in life, and we are thankful they all live close by.”
Vohra’s vision for the future is guided by his parents' wisdom and marked by the words of successful entrepreneurs like Warren Buffet.
“I believe in Warren Buffett's advice: Make smart decisions. Surround yourself with smart people. Invest in yourself,” Vohra said. “I’m not done yet; I sit on advisory boards, partner with my children on companies with community relevance, and figure out ways to positively impact society and help others invest in themselves. Success is not an isolated identity. Success is how many people you take with you along the way.”
Vohra continued, “God has given me so much, both in professional and personal satisfaction. Now is the time to pay back and develop the next generation of responsible citizens. So, my effort to provide payback to NIU is in gratitude, time, and funding, as well as encouraging others to provide resources so the university can continue to prosper.”
Vohra’s father once said to him, “You are my dream; you are my hope.” These words instilled in him a sense of responsibility and optimism that Vohra carries forward for today’s youth.
“We can provide the best possible opportunities for the younger generation to succeed and change the world,” said Vohra. “They are the future of our country, and it starts with higher education.”