It was the trees.

Yes, Quaker values and academic rigor helped persuade Karan Madan ’91 to choose Swarthmore when he opted to attend college in the United States. But what made up his mind was the natural beauty of campus that he’d seen in the brochures—those gorgeous trees.

“I thought, What better place to study?” he says.

Those trees are still here; they’ve grown and flourished in the quarter-century since Karan’s graduation. Something else has, too: Today, he’s driving his son Arjun ’21 back to Swarthmore to begin his second semester.

“I’m excited,” Karan laughs. “I’d love for him to partake in the experiences that were important to me when I was a student, but I also want to step back and let him have his own.”

Karan grew up in India, went to high school in Wales, and came to Swarthmore as an international student. In fact, this helped define his identity on campus: Not only was he president of the International Club, but most of his best friends were also new to the U.S.

Although he played squash and started an intramural soccer club called The Flying Turbans in honor of the headwear he then donned, Karan preferred to spend his time with friends, hanging out in the amphitheater or planning campus cultural activities. He was particularly close to Larry Westphal, the J. Archer and Helen C. Turner Professor of Economics, joining him as a research assistant in the Netherlands after graduation.

“He always joked, ‘When you get rich on Wall Street, buy a gold chair for me,’” says Karan. “I was proud to do something even better, when I helped fund the ongoing Larry and Myrt Westphal Scholarship at Swarthmore.”

Driven by a desire to save the world, Karan worked at the U.N. and World Bank, but ultimately realized he could have a larger social impact helping companies grow. Today, he’s managing director and head of emerging markets and foreign exchange for the Americas at the investment bank Nomura.

Born in Britain, Arjun grew up in New York City, a gifted student who excelled at Latin and has played the tabla since kindergarten. For as much as he admires his father, following so closely in his footsteps was something he weighed carefully.

“The biggest factor in me choosing Swarthmore—bigger than a family connection—was knowing that this is a liberal arts school with an engineering program,” he says. “I knew I could come here and pursue a wide variety of things. Plus, since I played four years of high school golf and loved it, knowing I could play for Swarthmore’s team was huge.”

Passionate about music, Arjun also co-hosts a Wednesday-night radio show on WSRN with friend Steve Hergenroeder ’21, Deep Sound Presents: Tasty Tracks, where the pair play and discuss their favorite house, trance, and dance music. He’s a sportswriter for the Phoenix and looks forward to deepening his existing Swarthmore friendships while developing new ones.

It means a lot to the father to see his son so confident and thoughtful, especially since being back on campus can blur the lines dividing present, past, and future.

“We went to get pizza at Renato’s in the Ville,” Karan says, “and it was the same guy working there from 25 years ago! We all laughed about how much has changed.”

“It’s nice to know one thing that won’t,” says Arjun. “Both of us going to Swarthmore is a bond I’m proud my dad and I will always share.”