Baldev Govindram Raheja

Born in 1938 in Coimbatore, India to Govindram and Saraswati Raheja, Dev—as he was known to most—grew up in Mumbai. He earned his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Manipal Institute in Pune, India before coming to the United States in 1963 to pursue graduate studies. He earned his Master's degree in Industrial Engineering from Texas Tech University and began his career at General Electric in Boston. Over the decades that followed, he became a world-renowned expert in Safety and Reliability Engineering. His career spanned numerous focus areas—from making automobiles and airplanes safer, to working with NASA and the space program, to patient safety in healthcare in the later stages of his long career. He authored six books that remain in use in graduate programs today. As an adjunct professor at several universities, he did the bulk of his teaching at the University of Maryland, where he helped build one of the nation's premier Reliability Engineering programs.

Dev married Hemlata in 1968, and together they raised two children across two continents—living for a time in Pune, India before settling outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and eventually making their home in Laurel, Maryland for forty years before moving to the Denver area in recent years to be close to their Daughter, Gauri.

A deeply compassionate man, Dev devoted significant time and resources to helping others, including sponsoring orphanages in India. He was a devoted follower of Buddhism, and his practice of Zen meditation shaped the way he moved through the world. Friends, family, and colleagues treasured long conversations with him about life, and many remarked on his calming presence. He influenced countless others on their own journeys of meditation and reflection.

Dev is survived by his wife Hemlata; his son Pramod and daughter-in-law Preeti and his two grandsons, Nikhil and Akash; and his daughter Gauri and son-in-law Rakesh.

A celebration of life will be held March 7th in Potomac Falls, VA. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Brighter Children: https://www.brighterchildren.org/ in his memory.