Alpana Sikder was born and raised in Darjeeling, India. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Calcutta, majoring in philosophy. Alpana married her late husband, Nitya R. Sikder, while she was still still in school, and she later obtained her graduate degree from Fordham University. Alpana also has a degree in accounting from Saint Peter’s College in Englewood, and she worked as a banker, mostly as an underwriter for commercial real estate, for what is now the Bank of America. Alpana retired from M&T Bank, managing their closed real estate.
Alpana has been widowed since 1982, when she lost her husband to cancer. She has two adult children, a daughter, Arpita Sikder, who is a graduate of Princeton University and Richmond Law School. She also has an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania and currently works as a vice president at Valley Health Systems. Alpana’s son, Neil Sikder, is a graduate of Wharton School of Business and owns his own business. Her daughter in-law, Nisha Mital Sikder, has an undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Alpana is also the proud grandmother of two granddaughters, Zhara and Raina Sikder, and a grandson, Ayan Sikder
Alpana learned about The Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County through Facebook and very much likes our Humanist values and goals of helping others. Even though Alpana was raised in the Hindu religion, her family did not follow ritualistic Hinduism, and her grandfather and father were humanists. Alpana was brought up in a household where basic human values were encouraged, so here she is proud to be inducted into our Ethical Culture humanist community.
