 In 1948, he established the Department of South Asia Regional Studies, the first area studies department in North America.Offerings continued to be expanded until a full program was available in the 1949-1950 academic year.He brought together a number of eminent scholars such as Holden Furber, Stella Kramrisch, and Ernest Bender, ensuring that the Department of South Asia Studies at Penn became, and continues as, one of the most important places in the world for serious research on South Asia in general and Sanskrit in particular.