Editors’ Note: This feature appears as it was published in the spring 2018 edition of UT Dallas Magazine. Titles or faculty members listed may have changed since that time.
Aditi Mutatkar during her playing days.
After retiring from playing professional badminton in India, Aditi Mutatkar MPA’17 had to figure out her next career move.
The 30-year-old wanted to combine her love of sports with her desire to solve a problem in her country. She found a way to do that while working on a master’s in public affairs.
Mutatkar, who had relocated to Dallas after getting married, took courses in the program’s nonprofit track. She focused her research projects on ways to help expand the limited physical education and organized sports available in India’s public schools.
For one of her courses, she designed a strategic plan for Art of Play, a New Delhi-based nonprofit that provides physical education curriculum and training to India’s public schools.
Mutatkar started playing badminton at age 9. In an international career spanning over 15 years, she won five national championships across all age groups, retiring in 2014 due to injuries.
Mutatkar hopes her work will help other children learn about perseverance, teamwork and competition through sports.
Mutatkar with Temoc on graduation day.
