Admin

Dr. Simran Jeet Singh is always on the run, both figuratively and literally. The marathon runner, devoted husband, and doting father splits his time between San Antonio and New York City. He is an active member of the Sikh community and a regular contributor to The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Guardian. […]

Dr. Simran Jeet Singh is always on the run, both figuratively and literally. The marathon runner, devoted husband, and doting father splits his time between San Antonio and New York City. He is an active member of the Sikh community and a regular contributor to The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Guardian.

It’s no wonder Singh, along with five other graduates of Northside ISD, will be honored as the 2016 Pillars of Character at the Northside Education Foundation’s annual gala, Sept. 21.

Each year, Pillars are selected from almost 100,000 Northside ISD alumni who graduated from NISD high schools since 1951. The Pillars represent the six character traits taught to NISD students as part of the Josephson Institute’s Character Counts program. The traits are: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship.

2016 Pillar of Respect
Dr. Simran Jeet Singh

Respect, Dr. Simran Jeet Singh says, is recognizing the humanity and divinity in everyone. “When you see people that way, it changes your perception of our world,” he said.

A product of Northside ISD, Dr. Singh attended Thornton Elementary School, Rudder Middle School, and O’Connor High School. Dr. Singh credits the teachers, administrators, and friends he met throughout his academic career for shaping who he is today. His Northside educators helped him be an educator and see the potential in others. He holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University, a graduate degree from Harvard University, and an undergraduate degree from Trinity University. He is an Assistant Professor at his alma mater, Trinity University, in the Department of Religion and a Senior Religion Fellow for the Sikh Coalition. He is a regular contributor to The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Guardian. He is called on to speak on the topics of diversity, inclusion, civil rights, religion, and hate violence. He splits his time between New York City and San Antonio and is an avid marathon runner. Running, started out as a way to supplement soccer when he was younger. Today, he runs to combat stereotypes. He and his wife, Dr. Gunisha Kaur, are the proud parents of a daughter, Jiya.