Quick Facts
Biography
Anuradha "Anu" Vaidyanathan (born 1983 or 1984) is an Indian writer, entrepreneur and triathlete.Vaidyanathan's first book, the memoir Anywhere But Home – Adventures in Endurance, was published by Harper Collins in 2016, to positive reviews.
Early life
Vaidyanathan was born in New Delhi, India. She is of Indian descent. Vaidyanathan earned Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Computer Engineering from Purdue University and North Carolina State University. She founded PatNMarks, an Intellectual Property Consulting firm, in 2001. She has served as the founder and CEO.
Vaidyanathan also has a PhD in a record-setting time of 26 months from University of Canterbury at Christchurch, in Electrical Engineering.
Career
Sport
In 2009, while working towards her PhD, she became the first Asian woman to complete the Ultraman Canada event, placing 6th amongst women, in the absence of any significant sponsorship.
She is the first India-based athlete to train for an participate in Ironman Triathlon. She has competed all over the globe in Ironman distance events and long-course triathlons culminating in Ultraman Canada in 2009, followed by a finish at Ironman Canada three weeks after Ultraman. Vaidyanathan was the first Indian woman to have qualified for the Half Ironman 70.3 Clearwater World Championship in 2008 (although she did not compete in this race).
Vaidyanathan speaks on a variety of topics including Gender, Sport, and Innovation and has addressed several organizations, including Fortune 100 companies, Sporting Teams, Universities and Schools.
Academia
She has served as a member of faculty at Indian Institute of Technology Ropar in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, teaching Undergraduate and Graduate classes on Computer Architecture. She has also served as visiting Faculty at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, teaching courses in Business Policy, Innovation, Technology and Intellectual Property.