Jasvant Nagindas Modi’s life traces a remarkable arc from a modest upbringing in Godhra, a small town in the western Indian state of Gujarat, to a career of success and service in the United States. The son of a schoolteacher and raised in a large Jain family rooted in discipline and faith, he studied medicine at B.J. Medical College in Ahmedabad before immigrating to the United States in the mid-1970s. He eventually established himself as a respected gastroenterologist in Los Angeles and later expanded into healthcare management, acquiring and operating long-term care facilities across Southern California. Dr. Meera Modi, born in Wankaner, India in 1949, earned her medical degree from Lady Hardinge Medical College in New Delhi, a courageous choice at a time when India had very few medical colleges open to women.

Dr. Meera Modi went on to become one of the top Family Medicine specialists in Los Angeles, owning private practices in the city while raising two children and supporting her husband through every stage of his career. Together, the couple built a legacy of healing guided by their deep Jain values. Driven by those values, they actively promote Jain principles through philanthropic initiatives focused on healthcare and education, and have acquired and currently manage four hospitals providing compassionate care to the communities they serve.

Together, Dr. Jasvant and Dr. Meera Modi have contributed more than $30 million to philanthropic initiatives across the United States, Europe, and India. Dr. Jasvant Modi has pledged totals of $13 million to establish Jain Studies programs at colleges and universities across the United States, coordinated through the Vardhamana Charitable Foundation, which the couple founded. In October 2023, he was honored with the Ahiṃsā Award from the Institute of Jainology at the UK House of Commons, and in February 2024 was conferred an honorary Doctor of Literature from Sumandeep Vidyapeeth in Vadodara. 

A $1.5 million pledge from Jasvant and Meera Modi will establish UCLA’s first endowed professorship in Jain Studies and Religions of South Asia, the Bhagawan Abhinandan Endowed Chair. The gift, announced in October 2025, reflects the Modis’ longstanding commitment to advancing Jain studies alongside fellow community philanthropists at institutions across the country.