Gift from alum and former tutor funds campus tutoring center

When he was earning his way to an undergraduate degree in civil engineering, Sandeep Mathrani ’83 M.E. ’86 worked as a math tutor. Years later he still found the experience so fulfilling that he gave $100,000 in FY14 to support tutoring services at Stevens.

“I found that I really enjoyed tutoring, became friends with other math tutors, and, critically, got paid for it,” Mathrani said. “This was an important part of my life for three years. It’s how I made it through school – by helping people and myself at the same time.”

Mathrani, the current CEO of General Growth Properties, a real estate investment trust based in Chicago, has given generously to Stevens in previous years, including to create the Walk-In Tutoring Center inside the Williams Library.

Tutors who work at the Walk-In Tutoring Center receive an hourly wage of $12 that can often be a helpful supplement to financial aid and scholarship packages. During 2013-14, over 72 student tutors combined to help their classmates during almost 1250 sessions.

Computer engineering major Sara Vitkus ’18 is one of the student tutors who is benefitting from Mathrani’s gift, and seemingly she is having the same fulfilling experience he did.

“Tutoring has been a really rewarding experience for me thus far,” Vitkus said. “All of my tutees are very excited and willing to learn, which makes my job of helping them learn the concepts very fun. It’s definitely a great job to have while at Stevens, because you really feel that you are making a difference.”