About Mike

Mike completed a B.S in engineering with a high scholastic record.  In recognition of his achievement, the University awarded him a gold medal.  He then finished the M. S. in engineering from MIT,  once again, with high grades.  He then joined  the Monsanto Company where he worked for 26 years.  During that time, he made great progress and received frequent promotions.  The higher management appreciated his contribution and nominated one of his projects for the “President’s Award”, the highest honor the company provides. 

Modi believes in teamwork.  Collectively, his team came up with many new products for Monsanto.  Modi helped Monsanto customers in processing the products shortly after their release.

While working at Monsanto, Modi served on various sub-committees of ASTM and AATCC national non-profit organizations.   From time to time, the organizations invited Modi to present his research papers in front of its’ large size members.  Modi received world recognition as his presentations were well received and appreciated by the members.

Apart from his contribution to non-profit technical U S organizations, Modi has assisted NASA scientists in developing parachute design and in defining the fabric specs for the moon walk outfit.  Another success story Modi is proud of.

Modi also realizes his responsibility for helping towards other worthy causes.  Each year, his contributions to the United Funds are significant.  The same is true regarding political contribution funds. 

After the 26 years of work at Monsanto, Mike choose to take early retirement to explore his personal business ambitions and interests.  He left the company in an excellent shape. 

Modi’s retirement plans brought him to Nashville.  He built and operated a “state-of-the-art” boutique “Hampton Inn and Suites” hotel in downtown, Nashville.  The President of Hilton Corp. liked the design and came with camera crews to take a hotel shooting which lasted for 7 days.  He showed the film to other hotel owners during the next yearly Hilton convention to serve as a mark of inspiration. 

“That was the start when “Sobro” (South of Broadway) started booming”, according to our Mayor who was the main speaker for the hotel opening ceremony.  The hotel is considered as a hallmark-addition to Nashville, downtown  and received  many compliments from visitors and local dignitaries.  Based on high customer satisfaction scores, and contributions from his 55 employees, Modi received many awards from the Hilton Corporation.

But the progress was not without any hitch.  Next came the 500-year catastrophic flood and affected all the downtown buildings.  The Hampton Inn garage was under 22 inches of water.  No electricity.  He faced the National News media to cover the news.  He not only removed all the water, and repaired/replaced all the equipment, but installed a well-designed system to avoid such damage during any future flood.  It was one his biggest challenges.  It took a little over a year to complete the job.  Modi also helped his neighbors to resolve the issues.  Modi is once again proud of his work as not a single drop of water has entered the hotel garage since.

Soon, the Mayor appointed Modi as a board member of TN Hotel Association.  After recognizing the progress and his contributions, the Mayor then appointed him on the board of the New Convention Center that was unanimously confirmed by all the congressmen.   The funding of the convention center became challenging as he started it from the scratch.  Modi came to help when the board decided to raise fees on hotel guests.  Modi had to arrange several meetings with the hotel owners to convince them to justify the increase.  That task was achieved with the help of other board members and the key City personnel.  There were many other tasks and challenges faced by the board members.  Collectively, we handled them all.  The beautiful New Convention Center” is now a reality and a great benefit for Nashville.

Simultaneously, to fulfill his social obligations, Modi served on various non-profit organizations such as Kiwanis, toastmasters, and a long list of many others.

Modi attends a local Baptist Church where he met many of God’s people who help other nations to bring them closer to Lord.  Apart from his active role in the church activities, Modi donated over $10k to one of the church activity groups called “Living Water” to help people in Africa.  He also donated large amounts to schools in India. 

Modi suffers from diabetes and along with lymphoma.  He donated over $10k to Diabetic Research Foundation and another $10k to Cancer Research Organization. 

Modi has had a busy routine.  However, he did not overlook opportunities to give back to the community. The Nashville Chamber of Commerce  along with the City leaders arranged for a fund-raising meeting to help the Titans.  The Mayor appealed to the group for giving a helping hand.  As a small token of appreciation, Modi was the first  to come forward and complied with a large check when others in the crowd followed.  “A neighbor helping a neighbor is the least I could do”, said Modi during the TV interview.   As it turns out, the Titans well deserved the timely help based of their huge achievements and great strides  they made over the years.  Looking back, Modi takes great pride for making the right decision.

In short, Modi likes to do his part by way of participating in local non-profit organizations in the community in which he lives.  The people of Nashville are so important to Modi and he is honored to call the great city of Nashville his home.