Building community, investing in future generations: The Sharma family’s legacy with NCCF
When more than 800 people gathered at the Hindu Society of North Carolina in March to celebrate Dr. Ganga Dhar Sharma’s 100th birthday, they weren’t simply marking a milestone. They were honoring a man whose vision helped shape the Triangle’s Hindu community for half a century.
Dr. Sharma passed away on July 31, 2026, just months after the celebration. However, his legacy lives on in many ways.
In 1976, Dr. Sharma helped found the Hindu Society of North Carolina. Over the decades, he and his wife, Saroj, became widely respected for their leadership and service, earning induction into the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, one of North Carolina’s highest civilian honors. Today, their portrait hangs in Morrisville Town Hall in recognition of their lasting contributions to the community.
Years later, their daughter, Madhu, extended that legacy by establishing the Sharma Family Scholarship Fund through the North Carolina Community Foundation. The fund now helps students pursue STEM degrees at North Carolina State University while carrying forward the family’s commitment to education.
After working with the United Nations, Dr. Sharma and his family moved to North Carolina in 1972, where he joined the faculty at NC State. When they arrived, there were about 30 Indian families in the area.
“I’m a Hindu and a religious man,” Dr. Sharma said. “When I came, there was no religious organization. I said, ‘I will start the religious work.'”
Without a temple, families gathered in homes to worship, teach their children about their faith and build a sense of community.
“They didn’t have a long-term vision,” Madhu said. “They had no idea it would become what it is today.”
As the community grew, those gatherings eventually outgrew borrowed spaces. In 1985, the society purchased land in Morrisville, where the Hindu Society of North Carolina remains today and now includes nearly 3,000 members representing about 1,300 families.
Saroj, who served as the temple’s first president, still visits nearly every day. “This is a place for everybody,” she said. “Everybody is welcome here.”
Education was also central to the Sharma family. All five Sharma children followed their father to NC State, where they earned their degrees.
“If you have education, then you can take care of yourself,” Madhu said, describing the values her parents instilled in their children. “You can support your community. You can support your family.”
As Dr. Sharma’s 80th birthday approached, friends began asking Madhu how they could honor him. Rather than accepting gifts, the family decided to create something lasting.
“We need to do something else,” Madhu recalled.
Working with her parents, Madhu established the Sharma Family Scholarship Fund, which has awarded more than $69,000 in scholarships since its creation in 2006.
One of the scholarship’s most recent recipients is Kaylon Braswell, a first-year student at NC State studying civil engineering. Raised by her single mother, Kaylon said paying for college would have been difficult without scholarships.
“It’s someone investing in my future,” Braswell said. “It’s someone believing in me. It goes further than just money. It’s someone seeing the work that I’ve put in and believing that I can continue to put in the work to be the best student I could possibly be and build a successful career for myself.”
For the Sharma family, the scholarship has become part of their own legacy. Madhu later served on NCCF’s Board of Directors. Now, her son and her late brother Alok’s son serve on the scholarship committee, helping review applications. Younger generations have also chosen to support the fund in lieu of wedding and graduation gifts, ensuring the family’s commitment to education continues well into the future.
“Who thought that it would become a legacy?” Madhu said. “But that’s what it’s become.”