Obituary of Surjit Singh Khurana

Surjit Singh Khurana, 92, died peacefully surrounded by his family on November 28, 2023. He was born to his parents, Jawant Singh Khurana and Pritam Kaur Khurana in Tandlianwala, India before the partition. After the partition, he lived in Amritsar and New Delhi, India, before immigrating to the USA in 1967 to pursue a PhD in mathematics at the University of Illinois in Champaign Urbana. After completing his PhD, he joined the University of Iowa faculty in 1968 and remained on the faculty for 53 years. He had a remarkable academic career, mentoring countless graduate students and publishing hundreds of research articles in his field. He was devoted to his students and his love of math. His innate curiousity extended to numerous other interests. Most notably, he was a lifelong student of world history and poetry. His greatest joy was his family.  He lived in Iowa City, Iowa for the last 55 years and was married for 51 years to his loving wife, Ranjit Kaur Khurana until her death.  They raised their 3 children, Neeru Khurana Hershey (m. Andrew Hershey), Guljit S. Khurana (m. Jessica Khurana), and Kav S. Khurana (m. Prasanti Khurana). They were blessed with 7 grandchildren. He is survived by his 3 children, 7 grandchildren, 1 brother and 1 sister.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to support Surjit S. Khurana Memorial Fund at the University of Iowa Department of Mathematics. Contributions in Surjit S. Khurana’s memory can be made payable to the University of Iowa Center for Advancement; and mailed to:

University of Iowa Center for Advancement

P.O. Box 4550

Iowa City, IA 52244-4550