. .    

 

 [AA]2@ SBU
 Asian &
 Asian
 American
 Alumni

 

 

Preeti Priya

Class of '96

Attorney

Co-Founder:
South Asian Women's Leadership
Forum

SBU Alumni
Association
Board of
Directors

 

 

Second from the right in the photo above, Preeti Priya, Class of '96, celebrates with alumni and other members of the SBU Alumni Board of Directors at the end of a successful night at the 101 Club in January 2004.  (Double click photo to enlarge.)  For those reading this who are not Indian, Preeti's name is pronounced Pree (rhymes with tree) thee (like the beginning of theatre) with the stress on the first syllable Pree, Pree ya

Preeti graduated from SBU in 1996, majoring in Political Science and Philosophy.  She went on to Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center, received her J.D. in 1999 and was admitted to the bar in 2000.  

Stony Brook is definitely a family affair for Preeti.  Her brother, Guarav Prasad, is currently a senior here and has aspirations to be a successful entrepreneur.  Her father, Dr. Vish Prasad, now Dean of Engineering at Florida International University, began at SBU as a mechanical engineering professor.  He then became Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies in the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences under Yacov Shamash before accepting the offer to be in Shamash's position at FIU.

Preeti is active on the Board of the SBU Alumni Association just as she was active as an undergrad.  She was one of those students petitioning the University to approve a Center for India Studies, a member of Club India (now known as Club SASA), and put her photogenic face behind the camera as the assistant general manager of 3TV (now SBU TV) in its early years.

Preeti's next goal is to work with Prof. S.N. Sridhar, Director of the Center of India Studies, and Dr. Sunita Mukhi, Director of the Charles B. Wang Center Celebrating Asian and Asian American Cultures, to have a Manhattan get together to raise support for performances and programs about India.  (And here are more name lessons.  Sridhar is pronounced Shree der - so you add an h sound in the first syllable where you don't have one and you don't pronounce it in the second syllable where you do have one.  And if I am wrong, he is a linguistics professor and in the next issue we will have a lesson!  Sunita Mukhi - everyone pronounces her name wrong - is Sue nee tuh, second syllable stressed, Moo key, first syllable stressed.)    

Preeti is currently an associate in the law firm of Rivera, Hunter, Colon & Dobshinsky in Manhattan.  The firm concentrates in civil and commercial litigation in the state and federal courts of New York and New Jersey.  The firm is actively involved in personal injury litigation, contract and commercial litigation, insurance contract and coverage litigation, significant property damage litigation, real estate matters, litigation involving the Uniform Commercial Code, shareholder disputes, community association matters, and employment matters.  Preeti handles state trial practice, personal injury and property damage litigation, contracts, along with arbitration and mediation.  90% of her time is devoted to litigation.  

Prior to joining RHC&D, Preeti was In House Counsel for Westminster U.S.A. Before being admitted to the Bar, she was a legal intern at Symbol Technologies and prior to that took advantage of SBU's internship programs to be a law clerk with the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office.

She is a member of the South Asian Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the New York County Lawyer's Association.  She is a founding member of South Asian Women's Leadership Forum (SAWLF), an organization based in Manhattan that brings together women of diverse backgrounds for the purpose of networking, resource and knowledge sharing, and mentoring in a professional environment. 

If you need an attorney in an area she handles, call her, or talk to the SBU Alumni Association, the Center for India Studies, or [AA]2 for the names of other alumni lawyers.  Alumni supporting alumni is one of the most important things alumni can do for each other and for future SBU grads.  

SBU alumna Tara Nyack, a paralegal at Stroock & Stroock who is deciding between grad school in international affairs or law school, had this to say about Preeti: "Growing up in a small town in Long Island, I never had someone who looked like me to look up to. It was difficult to look to my parents because as immigrants they did not go through the same experiences I would encounter as a young adult.  I would always try to blend in and even let people think I was Sicilian, Spanish or whatever they wanted.  If I corrected them, they were mesmerized, like an Indian girl wearing blue jeans was from another planet."  

"Working in the corporate legal field, it is difficult to find South Asian American contemporaries.  I have only met a few, so I was excited when I had the pleasure of meeting Preeti.  Not only is she beautiful, but she is an outspoken attorney with an edge who won't take no for an answer, in other words a Wall Street litigator.  She has been an inspiration for me in my legal career plowing a path not traditionally traveled by the stereotypical soft-spoken Indian women of days past."

"Preeti is also a co-founder of an organization that supports and encourages South Asian women to undertake untraditional roles.  I am extremely proud to now count Preeti amongst my friends and mentors.  She is an inspiration to young Asian American women pursuing a career in which Asian women are few and far between.  She is someone to look up to and just a small dose of what's to be expected of Asian Americans to come.  When Preeti enters the room, her presence is known either from her prevailing beauty, attitude or plain boldness.  She is a mentor and a symbol for young Indian women in America, our "didi" (sister)." 

If you are thinking about law school and would like some of that mentoring , Preeti will be one of the SBU alumnae giving a career choices workshop at the AURA-[AA]2 Chick Flick Fest Young Asian American Women Speak Out on April 24th in the Wang Center.  If you are a South Asian alumna in the city and want networking, check out SAWLF(A little Latin language lesson too - alumna means female, alumnus means male, alumnae is plural female, alumni is plural male but given the patriarchal world we live in...) 

Alumni who would like to hang out again just for old times sake, go to any SBU Alumni Reunion, or better yet, convince them to have the first Club India / Club SASA and/or 3TV / SBU TV reunions!  Too many members of the SBU Alumni Association Board were never involved students like Preeti and don't understand the value of affinity group reunions.  Let your voices be heard - give her the back-up to go to the Board and say - "See, alumni want this!  Let's do it!"    ppriya@rhcdlaw.com

 

 

 

 

 


 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PLakeIndia.jpg (2297996 bytes)

PreetiandRishi.jpg (59255 bytes)

Preeti resides in Manhattan with her husband, Rishi Parikh.  They try to visit India often as they have family there. The photo on the left is Udaipur, Rajasthan.  The photo on the right is Darbar Square in Kathmandu, Nepal.  The center photo is at the SBU Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner last fall.  

DarbarSquareKathmandu.jpg (1904949 bytes)

 

 

 

 

 

March 2004 Special Report
Ja Young, Alumni Advisor, SBU AA E-Zine
                                                                                   

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