{{Short description|American businessman}} {{independent sources|date=March 2026}} {{Use American English|date=May 2015}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2023}} {{Infobox person | name = Alfred Ford | image = Alfred Ford (Ambarisha Das) Tirupati 31-01-2007.jpg | image_size = 200px | other_names = Ambarish Das | birth_name = Alfred Brush Ford | caption = Ford in 2007 | birth_place = Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | occupation = Businessman | title = Project Chairman of the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium<ref>{{cite news|title=Alfred B Ford On Gujarat Tour To Raise Funds For ISKCON Temple|url=http://m.vishwagujarat.com/gujarat/alfred-b-ford-on-gujarat-tour-to-raise-funds-for-iskcon-temple/|access-date=February 1, 2017|work=Vishwa Gujarat|date=January 29, 2017|location=India|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171110222345/http://m.vishwagujarat.com/gujarat/alfred-b-ford-on-gujarat-tour-to-raise-funds-for-iskcon-temple/|archive-date=November 10, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Ford scion in Gujarat to raise funds for ISKCON temple|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/ford-scion-in-gujarat-to-raise-funds-for-iskcon-temple/articleshow/56841364.cms|access-date=February 1, 2017|work=The Times of India|date=January 29, 2017|location=India}}</ref> | boards = Ford Motor Company | spouse = Sharmila Ford<ref name="toi" /> | children = 2 (Amrita, Anisha) | family = Ford }} '''Alfred Brush Ford''', also known as '''Ambarish Das''' ({{IAST3|Ambarīśa Dāsa}}),<ref name="tac" /> is an American businessman and the great-grandson of Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company.<ref name="toi" /> He joined the ISKCON, a Gaudiya Vaishnava group in 1975.<ref name ="HT-Ford">{{Cite news |date=2006-02-11 |title=Alfred Ford on spiritual journey |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/alfred-ford-on-spiritual-journey/story-KwXGxtn4hvjDr8NVu2wY4O.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220214044915/https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/alfred-ford-on-spiritual-journey/story-KwXGxtn4hvjDr8NVu2wY4O.html |archive-date=February 14, 2022 |access-date=2025-03-30 |work=Hindustan Times |language=en-us |url-status=live }}</ref> Ford is the chairman of the Sri Mayapur Temple of the Vedic Planetarium (TOVP), which is building the world's largest Vedic Hindu Temple in Mayapur, West Bengal, India.<ref name="Temple of Vedic Planetarium - meet-the-team">{{cite web|title=Temple of Vedic Planeterium – meet-the-team|url=https://tovp.org/meet-the-team/fundraising-department/|publisher=Temple of Vedic Planeterium|access-date=May 31, 2012}}</ref><ref name = "DTN-Ford-24">{{Cite web |last=Kildee |first=Katy |title=Alfred and Sharmila Ford help build world's largest Vedic temple in Mayapur India |url=https://www.detroitnews.com/picture-gallery/media/photo/2024/05/15/alfred-and-sharmila-ford-help-build-worlds-largest-vedic-temple-in-india/73564581007/ |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=The Detroit News |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Background== {{See also|Ford family tree}}
Alfred Ford's father was Walter B. Ford II (1920–1991, ''unrelated to Henry Ford''), whose family was prominent in chemical manufacturing in the Downriver area south of Detroit. His mother, Josephine Clay Ford (1923–2005), was the daughter of Edsel Ford (1893–1943) and granddaughter of Henry Ford (1863–1947).<ref name="tac">{{cite news|title=Alfred Ford is Building a Multi-Million Dollar Monument in India|url=http://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/money-and-power/news/a4350/alfred-ford-multi-million-dollar-monument-india/|access-date=September 12, 2016|publisher=Town & Country|date=November 23, 2015}}</ref>
Alfred and William Clay Ford Jr. (b. 1957), the current executive chairman of the Ford Motor Co., are first cousins. Alfred's mother was the sister of William Clay Ford Sr. (1925–2014), William Clay Ford, Jr.'s father.
Ford Motor Company was one of ChannelNet's early clients.<ref>{{citation|title=Alfred ford is member of Board of Directors and Advisory Board|url=https://www.channelnet.com/DirectorsAdvisors|access-date=November 2, 2020|archive-date=May 19, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519110001/http://channelnet.com/DirectorsAdvisors|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Personal life== Alfred Ford's maternal great grandfather Henry Ford was a pioneer of middleclass travel for Americans, as he introduced the Ford Model T on October 1, 1908, which brought his Ford Motor Company instant success, as it became the first mass-produced affordable automobile, at the world's first assembly line for cars in Michigan, USA, the center of the U.S. automotive industry. Headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, it has been in continuous family control since, June 16, 1903; and is one of the largest family-controlled companies in the world.<ref>[https://www.griequity.com/resources/industryandissues/familybusiness/topglobal.html The World’s 250 Largest Family Businesses]</ref> Presently it is William Clay Ford Jr, who is an active, executive chairman of Ford Motor Company since 1999.
After his initiation as a fervent disciple of Swami Prabhupada in 1974, his life became enmeshed with India and Hinduism.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxBMqGPVOjU GIBS Business School]</ref> A vegetarian, teetotaller and a staunch devotee of Krishna, he met his wife Sharmila Bhattacharya, at a Rathayatra festival in Sydney, in 1982, organized by ISKCON. Sharmila is the daughter of Dhrubadeb Bhattacharya, a doctor, who migrated with his family to Australia, and her mother Shukla, both deeply devoted and returning to India very often, at Naihati, imbibing religion and culture in Sharmila. Alfred and Sharmila got married in 1984. At ISKCON, Alfred Ford was named, ''Ambarish Das'' and Sharmila as ''Svaha Devi Dasi''.<ref>[https://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/this-ford-has-more-on-his-mind-than-cars This Ford has more on his mind than cars]</ref>
The couple have two daughters, both having Bengali names; namely Amrita and Anisha.<ref>[https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/A-Bengali-bou-at-the-Ford-home/articleshow/18702635.cms Alfred and Sharmila]</ref> Anisha Ford, who got a million dollars as a gift from her grandmother, as a reward for studying to secure a master’s degree from Harvard University, donated it all to the construction efforts of Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir.<ref>[https://iskconnews.org/our-other-family-business-the-tovp-by-amrita-and-anisha-ford/ India’s Largest Vedic Planetarium Temple Opens at ISKCON Mayapur with Help of Ford Scion & his Indian Wife][https://iskconnews.org/meet-alfred-ford-the-great-grandson-of-henry-ford-and-a-gainesville-resident/]</ref>
==Association with ISKCON== {{Vaishnavism}} In 1974, Ford initiated as a disciple of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (Srila Prabhupada), whom he first met in Dallas, USA.<ref>{{YouTube|UIIygo5-qeU}}</ref> He joined the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (the ''Hare Krishnas'') in 1975, and that same year he made his first trip to India with Prabhupada.<ref name="nytimes-09Nov81">{{cite news |title=Notes on People; Alfred Ford Takes a Turn to the Spiritual |newspaper=The New York Times | url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E3DA1E39F93AA35752C1A967948260 | access-date = August 25, 2006 |first1=Albin |last1=Krebs |first2=Robert Mcg. Jr |last2=Thomas |date=November 9, 1981}}</ref>
Ford assisted in the establishment of the first Hindu temple in Hawaii and also donated $500,000 to help establish the Bhaktivedanta Cultural Centre in Detroit<ref name="nytimes-09Nov81"/> which was completed in 1983.<ref name="toi" /> Alfred Ford has made many significant donations to ISKCON over the years, which have assisted ongoing projects to build the Pushpa Samadhi Mandir of Prabhupada.
In 2003 Ford spent a week in Moscow lobbying for the construction of a proposed $10 million Vedic cultural centre. It was said that Ford would "make a significant financial contribution for the project" if it happened.<ref name="vnn">{{cite news |title=Alfred Ford Lobbies For Vedic Centre In Moscow |newspaper=Hindustan Times |via=VNN Vaishnava News |date=October 21, 2003 |url=http://www.vnn.org/world/WD0310/WD21-8417.html |access-date=August 25, 2006 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070805045124/http://www.vnn.org/world/WD0310/WD21-8417.html |archive-date=August 5, 2007 }}</ref>
He also bought a $600,000 mansion to house a Hare Krishna temple and learning centre in Honolulu.<ref name="toi">{{cite news | title = The Billionaire Bhakta | url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1042366,curpg-1.cms | access-date = August 25, 2006 | work=The Times of India | first1=Malavika | last1=Sangghvi | date=March 6, 2005}}</ref>
Ford is the chairman of the Sri Mayapur Temple of the Vedic Planetarium (also called TOVP), which is building the world's largest Vedic Hindu Temple in Mayapur, West Bengal, India at the sacred birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, a prominent figure in the ISKCON's Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition.<ref name="Temple of Vedic Planetarium - meet-the-team"/><ref name="DTN-Ford-24"/> On March 1, 2024, Ford addressed the gathering of Krishna devotees during the opening of the east wing of the temple in Mayapur.<ref name="DTN-Ford-24"/>
==Health issues==
On July 22, 2025, Ambarīśa Dasa suffered a stroke while visiting the US state of Maine. It was reported he was in critical condition on July 23, 2025 by ISKCON News.<ref name="stroke">{{cite news | title = Urgent Request of Prayers for Ambarisa Dasa (Alfred Ford) | url = https://iskconnews.org/urgent-request-of-prayers-for-ambarisa-dasa-alfred-ford/ | access-date = July 23, 2025 | work=ISKCON News | date=July 23, 2025}}</ref> On August 6, 2025 it was reported he had been discharged from the hospital and was undergoing his recovery in a rehabilitation facility.<ref name="stroke"/> On August 10, 2025, TOVP Vice Chairman H.G. Braja Vilasa Das made a call for prayer, reporting Ford had returned to critical condition in hospital. As of September 10, 2025, Ford had been discharged from the rehabilitation facility and was living at home with his daughter.<ref name="stroke2">{{cite news | title = Ambarisa Prabhu Daily Health Updates from TOVP Vice Chairman H.G. Braja Vilasa Das | url = https://tovp.org/ambarisa-prabhu-health-updates/ | access-date = Aug 11, 2025 | work=Temple of the Vedic Planetarium | date=Aug 10, 2025}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==See also== * Ford Foundation
{{Modern Gaudiya Vaishnavas}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Alfred}} Category:Converts to Hinduism from Christianity Alfred Category:American Hindus Category:Living people Category:American Hare Krishnas Category:Date of birth missing (living people) Category:Year of birth missing (living people)