[5][6] Gangwal was born in July 1953 in a Marwari Jain family based in Kolkata, India.
[1] After completing his bachelors degree from IIT Kanpur at the age of 23, Gangwal moved to the United States in 1977.
[13] Prior to joining US Airways, Gangwal served as executive vice president for Air France beginning in November 1994.
Gangwal was conferred with the Distinguished Alumnus Award of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur.
[16] In April 2022, Gangwal donated a sum of ₹100 crore (approximately $13.16 million) to set up a school of medical sciences and technology at IIT-Kanpur, which also received another ₹200 crore (approximately $26.32 million) in donations from other alumni for the medical institution.