Meet Lata Setty and Raja Ramachandran P’22

Parents Lata Setty and Raja Ramachandran hail from Marin County, CA, just north of The Golden Gate Bridge, and make up the 40 percent of Seton Hall families who are from out of state. "We are 3,000 miles away so it is especially important that we get involved as our son transitions from high school to college," said Lata Setty.

Their 17-year-old son, Deven, is a freshman in the Stillman School of Business and a member of the University's Division 1 golf team. Deven is already making a name for himself, with his performance on the team dubbed "impressive."

Raja Ramachandran has a finance background and is the founder of ripe.io, a start-up focused on the "Blockchain of Food" and "helping solve large, global problems around food." Lata is Chief Intellectual Property Officer at UnitedLex Corporation and describes herself as a "mom, scientist, serial legal-tech entrepreneur, patent litigator and world traveler."

She explained, "Seton Hall's focus on servant leadership resonated with me deeply because I've been involved with community, Rotary International and my alma mater, serving on the Board of Directors at The University of Iowa, School of Law. It runs in the family. Deven also was involved in serving his community from a young age, including serving the homeless, raising awareness for Rotaplast (surgical missions of Rotarians who operate on kids with cleft lip/palate issues all over the globe) and in Interact, Rotary for high schoolers."

Dad Raja recalls how impressed the family was with the University's Recreation Center, the academic rigor and the brilliant student athletes. "The golf team's academic record and the fact that the team has one of the highest GPAs in the U.S. made quite an impression on us."

Lata recently joined the University's Parents Leadership Council. As a member of the Council she will work with parents of current and former Seton Hall students to further the mission of Seton Hall. This will range from financial investment to involvement in areas such as recruiting parent volunteers; hosting admitted student events; and providing ideas and feedback to senior administration. Lata shared, "I look forward to working with Seton Hall's leadership and informing the strategy as the University evolves over its next 100-plus years."