Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kailash Satyarthi, a pioneering advocate for children’s rights, will deliver the commencement address at Maharishi International University on June 21. 

Satyarthi’s life’s work — freeing more than 130,000 children from forced labor and trafficking — has inspired awareness campaigns and policy changes internationally, elevating child labor to a prominent issue on the global human rights agenda.

As part of the commencement ceremony, Satyarthi will receive a Doctorate of World Peace honoris causa, saluting his lifetime of courageous activism against child labor and exploitation and his global advocacy for education as a fundamental human right.

MIU President Dr. Tony Nader met Satyarthi in Abu Dhabi last February when both were featured speakers at a major global event, Indiaspora Forum for Good 2025, and they immediately began discussing ways to collaborate.

“Kailash Ji’s great work in the world reflects humanity’s highest ideals in action,” President Nader said. “His immense compassion flows from his sense of unity with everything and everyone. When he sees someone else needing help, it’s as if he himself needs help. He sees others as part of him. This is the hallmark of a highly developed consciousness.”

Born in 1954 in Vidisha, India, Satyarthi began his career as an electrical engineer. But in 1980, at age 26, he abandoned his lucrative job to confront the systemic issue of child labor. 

That same year, he founded Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save Childhood Movement), India’s first mass movement to combat child servitude. Through daring rescue operations, policy advocacy, and rehabilitation programs, his organization has liberated thousands of children from industries such as carpet weaving, fireworks manufacturing, and brick kilns.

Satyarthi’s activism extends beyond direct interventions. In 1994, he launched Rugmark — now GoodWeave International — a certification initiative ensuring that carpets are produced without child labor. This program has reduced child labor in India’s carpet industry by 80% and has empowered consumers to make ethical choices and pressured industries to adopt child-labor-free practices.

In 1998, he led the Global March Against Child Labour, a monumental 80,000-kilometer journey across 103 countries. This movement culminated in the International Labour Organization adopting Convention No. 182, targeting the worst forms of child labor.

Satyarthi’s efforts were internationally recognized in 2014 when he shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Malala Yousafzai. (Yousafzai, whose advocacy for human rights and the education of women and children in Pakistan grew into an international movement, was 17 when she won the Nobel Peace Prize, making her the youngest Nobel Laureate in history.) The Nobel Committee honored Satyarthi’s and Yousafzai’s “struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.”

Satyarthi’s work is driven by a profound belief: “If a child is denied education and forced to work instead, violence has been inflicted.” This conviction fuels his ongoing mission to eliminate child exploitation and ensure every child’s right to education.

“I see a wonderful collaboration. Sri Kailash Ji deeply recognizes the importance of developing consciousness as a way to cultivate compassion.”

— MIU President Dr. Tony Nader

“I see a wonderful collaboration,” Dr. Nader said. “Sri Kailash ji deeply recognizes the importance of developing consciousness as a way to cultivate compassion. He understands that genuine compassion arises from broad comprehension, and broad comprehension comes from a developed state of consciousness. We are completely in tune with each other on this understanding and many others.”

More than 160 million children worldwide — nearly 1 in 10 worldwide — remain trapped in labor, with half in hazardous work — a problem Satyarthi links to poverty, corruption, and consumer indifference. This number is down from the 246 million child laborers in 2000, but progress has been uneven and has recently stalled or reversed in some regions.

“Child slavery is a crime against humanity,” Satyarthi said. “Humanity itself is at stake here. A lot of work still remains, but I will see the end of child labor in my lifetime.”

Kailash Satyarthi and MIU’s Dr. John Hagelin were part of the same closing panel at the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Monterrey, Mexico, last September, where Dr. Hagelin spoke about MIU’s Consciousness-Based approach to world peace.

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PHOTOS — Banner photo by Pierre Albouy, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 IGO License | Next photo by Wilson Dias/Agência Brasil, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Brazil license | Next photo by Bair175, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

Maharishi School was named the most successful school at the State Science and Technology Fair of Iowa, held March 26-27 in Ames, Iowa, winning the prestigious Claison “Clay” Groff Memorial Traveling Trophy.

From throughout Iowa, 636 junior and senior high school students representing more than 77 schools and 38 counties exhibited more than 500 projects, competing for prizes, awards and scholarships.

“This is a dream come true,” said science fair advisor Asha Sharma, who has guided students to the competition since 2018.

“We were competing against schools 50 times our size,” said Dr. Richard Beall, head of the school. “We have had a long history of success in science and STEM-related activities. But this is the first time in the 20-year history of the award that we were recognized as the most outstanding school. This is a tribute to the enthusiasm our teachers generate and to the students’ own natural curiosity and determination in exploring questions of interest.”

In addition to the all-school honor, four students claimed top awards, with three advancing to the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in May.

Students shine with groundbreaking research

“My research developed a low-cost, noninvasive test to detect tau proteins — key biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease — using tear fluid and molecularly imprinted polymers instead of antibodies. By incorporating these polymers into colorimetric lateral flow strips, the study offers a promising alternative to traditional, invasive diagnostic methods, with potential for widespread, early detection in underserved populations.”

— Antariksha Sharma

Antariksha Sharma, named grand champion of the science fair for her innovative Alzheimer’s research, won first place in the Biochemistry category, won the Iowa Biotech Scholarship, won the “Six Year Dedication to Science Award, and was named a finalist to the International Science and Engineering Fair. She discovered a way to detect early signs of neurological degeneration by measuring the level of a key protein in a person’s tears. This can potentially give people a quick, low-cost way to determine whether they need additional testing.

“This project developed a data-driven mentor-mentee matching system that connects trauma-exposed youth with mentors who share similar lived experiences, aiming to foster emotional growth and resilience. Early findings show that trauma-informed mentorship improves trust, engagement, and well-being, with plans to expand the program using AI-powered analysis and scalable implementation strategies.”

— Trent Heffner

Trent Hefner won top honors in Behavioral and Social Sciences, was also a ISEF finalist, and was a Grand Honorable Mention for his project entitled “Empathy-Powered Pairing.” Inspired by his own experiences, Trent developed a trauma-informed algorithm to match at-risk youth with mentors who overcame similar struggles.

Sohni Singh came home with an armload of awards. She won the first place award in Physics and Astronomy. She won the Iowa Special Award from the Iowa State University Center for Nondestructive Evaluation, which recognizes outstanding achievements in the field of nondestructive evaluation (the science of detecting flaws and imperfections in materials to ensure their structural integrity without causing damage). And she won a $1,000 scholarship from Loras College. Her research grew out of her concern about EMF radiation, specifically radiofrequency radiation emitted by cell phones. Sohni tested commercial cell phone cases for their claimed ability to block radiofrequency exposure. She also created a phone case of her own using simple materials like aluminum foil — and found its protection comparable to store-bought varieties.

Xiaohan Wang was the Biochemistry second-place winner and an ISEF finalist. Xiaohan studied green tea’s potential to prevent cognitive decline in aging populations. Besides being a lover of green tea, he was motivated to discover an affordable way to prevent dementia.

Of the twelve competition categories, Maharishi School won three and placed second in a fourth.

Next stop: international competition

Antariksha, Trent, and Xiaohan will compete at the ISEF in Columbus, Ohio, joining peers from 64 countries. The event includes rigorous judging, a college recruitment fair, and social activities like a DJ-powered student mixer.

With the school trophy and standout student achievements, Maharishi School continues to make its mark in STEM excellence.

See the list of award winners here.

Photos: Banner photo by Andy Hallman, Southeast Iowa Union. Other photos by Asha Sharma.

A major new study co-led by MIU researchers and published in Frontiers in Medicine has found that practicing Transcendental Meditation® (TM) can significantly reduce heart attacks, strokes, and deaths in people at high risk for cardiovascular disease.

The randomized controlled trial, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), followed 200 Black men and women in Los Angeles — an underserved population disproportionately affected by heart disease. Over a five-year period, participants practicing TM experienced a 65% reduction in major adverse cardiovascular events compared to those who received standard health education.

A replication study with powerful results

“This is one of the largest and longest studies of its kind,” said senior investigator Dr. Robert Schneider, MD, FACC, Distinguished Professor of Integrative Medicine and Health and Director of MIU’s Center for Natural Medicine and Prevention. “Our findings replicate and extend earlier NIH-funded research showing that reducing stress through meditation has real, lasting benefits for heart health.”

The trial was conducted at King-Drew Medical Center in Los Angeles in collaboration with medical scientists at UCLA, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Des Moines University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Scientific highlights

The study found:

• The TM group experienced a 65% reduction in cardiovascular events — heart attacks, strokes, and deaths – over 5 years.
• Both the TM and health education interventions prevented progression of atherosclerosis. But only the TM group went further — reducing rates of heart attacks, strokes, and deaths, offering remarkable protection for cardiovascular health.
• The TM group sustained those long-term benefits — fewer heart attacks, strokes, and cardiovascular deaths — for 10 years. These outcomes were not observed in the health education group, highlighting the unique and lasting protection offered by the TM program.

The study targeted Black Americans, who face elevated rates of heart disease partly due to chronic stress from systemic factors like discrimination and limited healthcare access.

“Transcendental Meditation is a simple, evidence-based technique that may help reduce stress and protect cardiovascular health, especially in underserved groups,” said lead author Dr. Keith Norris, Professor of Medicine at UCLA. Dr. Norris is an internationally recognized clinician scientist and health policy leader. The recipient of numerous honors and awards from students, peers, community, and professional organizations, he serves as the Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of the international journal Ethnicity and Disease.

“This research reflects MIU’s mission to integrate consciousness-based approaches with cutting-edge science,” said Dr. Schneider. “We are helping to pioneer a new model of whole-person health that addresses the mind, body, and environment together.”

MIU faculty Dr. John Salerno, Dr. Carolyn Gaylord-King , and Dr. Sanford Nidich were also key investigators.

Another co-author is Amparo Castillo, MD, PhD, Clinical Assistant Professor of Community Health Sciences at the University of Illinois/Chicago. She holds an MS in Physiology from MIU and served as assistant professor and researcher at MIU’s Maharishi College of Vedic Medicine and Center for Natural Medicine and Prevention.

A 25-year collaboration

“This research collaboration began over 25 years ago, bringing together leading experts from several fields of mind-body medicine and integrative health — including meditation, stress and heart disease, and minority health and health disparities,” Dr. Schneider said.

Physicians, psychologists, and scientists from Charles R. Drew University, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, UCLA, Maharishi International University, and the Institute for Prevention Research joined forces in the late 1990s to launch the first federally funded studies on meditation and cardiovascular disease.

“Their landmark research demonstrated that TM can lower blood pressure, prevent atherosclerosis, improve heart function, and even reduce the risk of death, heart attacks, and strokes,” Dr. Schneider said. “This latest study reflects decades of groundbreaking interdisciplinary, multi-institution teamwork and MIU’s continuing leadership in consciousness-based approaches to health.”

The study authors wish to acknowledge MIU researcher Dr. Maxwell Rainforth for his support with biostatistics, Linda Heaton for her administrative role over the years, and Dr. Skip Alexander for his pioneering contributions to this research program.

Read the full published study in Frontiers in Medicine.