January 10 2020: EDWARDS, Rajendra Bernard

Rajendra Bernard Edwards

Rajendra Bernard Edwards was born in Jabalpur, M.P. India on October 30, 1938.  He was the 3rd of 6 children born to  Doris Mary and Seth Edwards. The children: Seth, Premala, Raj, Kamala, Dilawar, and John spent their early years travelling all over India with  their father who served in the Royal Indian Airforce (1942-1948). At age 9 (1947), India and Pakistan were split into two different countries, and the military pulled out all  military families into Indian territory.  Seth Edwards, Sr. and his family returned to Civilian life in Jabalpur, MP India. In Jabalpur, Raj attended Model High School, where he skipped grades with double promotions. He was captain of the cricket team. During those years, the family would vacation during the summer holidays at Sattal– a hill station with seven lakes in the foothills of the Himalaya Mountains where they attended the Christian Camp at the lakeside, organized by the renowned American missionary, Dr. E. Stanley Jones. Raj and siblings sang every evening at the revival services as the “Edwards Quartet” where he sang Tenor and Baritone.

After high school, Raj began his study of engineering, a field that he would specialize and excel in his entire life. After completing Intermediate College at  St. Aloysius College, he was admitted to the prestigious Government Engineering College in Jabalpur.  Although he was underage at the time, Raj was offered admission after he impressed the admissions committee  by building a radio out of a can and describing its construction during his interview. He excelled in engineering college, earning the highest grade point average in each of the engineering departments (mechanical, chemical, and electrical telecommunication), and was awarded a gold medal for being the first student ever to accomplish such a feat. Raj then got admission  to India Institute of Science and Technology in Bangalore, India. He received his Master’s in Engineering (Honors) degree there, and later sat for the prestigious ICS exam a national competition, where he was named one of India’s top 10 brains. During his school years, he also served as an officer in the NCC (National Cadet Corps). After graduation, Raj’s professional success continued in his work as a telecommunications engineer. He started out as an Assistant Professor in electrical engineering at the University of Punjab, before transitioning to industry. At the young age of 21, he began his first job as Director of the Post and Telegraph department for the state of Uttar Pradesh.  In doing so, he skipped five ranks in the Indian government to become an Executive Level (Class 1) officer, the highest rank in the Indian Civil Service.

Raj’s position in the Indian government afforded him the influence to help obtain and sponsor student visas for his younger brothers (Dilawar and John) to come to the United States.  In 1970, Raj immigrated to the U.S. He attended Harvard University and completed all coursework  for a PhD in Engineering. He later attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and conducted work at the prestigious MIT Lincoln Laboratory.  He eventually came to the Washington D.C. area to work for a large defense contractor, TRW, Inc., as a telecommunications engineer.  After living in Maryland with his sister Premala and her son Ravi for a few months, he settled in Vienna, Virginia. He regularly attended Fourth Presbetyrian Church, occasionally bringing Premala and Ravi to church with him. Raj would sometimes help babysit Ravi, and when his younger sister Kamala visited from Florida, he would purchase tickets for Premala & Kamala to attend concerts at Wolf Trap.  Kamala moved to Maryland in 1985, and the three siblings would sometimes get together for family events.

Raj eventually left a prestigious position at TRW after he acted as a whistleblower over company practices, and started his own company: Edwards Communications and Electro Optics, which were awarded several government military contracts. He also continued postgraduate work at Harvard, MIT, and other universities, where he worked on digital signal processing, sonar, and laser systems. During these years, Raj devised a system of protecting naval assets from technological and environmental threats. After several years, his consultancy eventually shuttered after failing to win a critical grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Raj then took some time to go back to India to represent the family in ongoing legal matters related to the Ancestral Family property in India.  When he returned to the U.S., he completed his government contract work, and taught at MIT as an Assistant Professor for mathematics and electronics. Raj was an avid tennis player like his father, and would also coach youth tennis for family members and children that attended Fourth Presbyterian Church.  In the early 2000s, Raj left Virginia for North Carolina, where he helped his brother John, a dentist, take care of their mother, who was in her early nineties. Doris Edwards, who inspired Raj’s interest in natural and alternative medicine, passed away in 2005.

As an independent scientist, Raj completed several Phase 1 & 2 Small Business Innovation & Research contracts (SBIR) contracts awarded by the US Army and Navy and continued to work on patenting innovations in digital signal processing. Through his research, he conceptualized solutions for current, water, and wind energy extraction. He was self-taught in biophysics and medical diagnostics, and his appetite for reading and learning would often lead him to contact the authors of research publications to discuss the latest innovations. Raj worked out of his home office, spending most of his time meeting with leading researchers/practitioners of cutting edge innovations and working with private clients, many of whom he helped free of charge. He has consulted with many leading medical professionals, and actively represented patients and their families at such facilities as the Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins Institutions.

Over the last several years, Raj expanded his scientific attention to focus on various disciplines of main-stream and alternative medicine, including research related to health-related commands in The Bible, which he called “Christo Synergistic Therapeutics”. A devout Christian, Raj also began attending McLean Bible Church and Vienna Presbyterian Church in his later years.  He loved listening to Fox News on the radio, and was devoted to many causes including the eradication of leprosy and child poverty in India, and suicide prevention for U.S. military veterans. Friends and family will remember him as a brilliant man– an innovator, tinkerer, and big thinker– but most of all as a caring gentle brother, uncle and friend, who was always generous with his resources, and willing to share his knowledge to help others. He will be greatly missed!

Raj is survived by his sister Dr. Premala Brewster Wilson and brother, Dr. John Edwards. He is also survived by nephews Ravi Brewster, Mark Edwards, and Dileshu Edwards, and nieces Karuna Bowen, Anugraha Edwards, and Jaya Ghildiyal. He was preceded in death by his father, Seth; mother, Doris; brother Seth Jaivant; brother Dilawar; and sister Kamala.

Relatives and friends may call at Collins Funeral Home, 500 University Blvd, W., Silver Spring, MD on Saturday, January 10, 2020 from 10-11 am, where service will be held at 11 am.  Interment Ft. Lincoln Cemetery.