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தமிழ் இணையப் பல்கலைக்கழகத்தின் தலைவர் |
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BRIEF BIO DATA OF PROF. V.C. KULANDAI SWAMY |
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I. Earlier Career: Born in an agricultural family in a small remote village, Prof V C Kulandaiswamy qualified for M.Tech., in I.I.T. Kharagpur and obtained Ph.D., in Hydrology and Water Resources from the University of Illinios, U.S.A. under USAID Fellowship. He received one year training in Hydraulics Laboratory Practice in West Germany under the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce Scholarship.
II. Teacher and Researcher: Starting his career in Education, he rose to be Dean of Post-Graduate studies in the College of Engineering (Now Anna University) Chennai. He has made outstanding contributions in Hydrology. One of the pioneers in developing mathematical models in Hydrology, a general equation developed by him and a model based on it for rainfall runoff relationship is known as `Kulandai Swamy Model’, widely quoted in Hydrologic Literature including Handbooks and Textbooks. He was a member of the UNESCO Planning Group (1978) for the preparation of the Second Six Year Plan (1981-86) of the International Hydrologic Programme (IHP) and was UNESCO Advisor (1979-81) in Hydraulics and Hydrology at the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. He has authored over 60 research reports and papers in the field of Hydrology besides 50 on areas of education, science and technology. He was a member one of the five member Committee appointed by the Ministry of Water Resources (1994) to look into the environment and rehabilitation problems of Narmadha Project when NBA announced a major agitation.
III. Academic Planner and Administrator: Later he moved to Educational Planning, Development and Administration. Starting as Director of Technical Education, Government of Tamil Nadu, he was successively Vice-Chancellor of : Madurai Kamaraj University (1978-79): Anna University, Chennai for three consecutive terms (1981-90) and Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi (1990-94). Currently, he holds the position of Chairman, Tamil Virtual Academy Society. He is a builder of Institutions. During the brief period, he was V.C. at Madurai Kamaraj University he established a Post-Graduate Centre at Tirunelveli which became later the seat of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University. During his term as V.C., Anna University blossomed into a Centre of Excellence, the seat of a number of innovative programmes and at the same time, the largest technical university in the country with an enrolment of 5000 students. Again, it was during his period of Vice Chancellorship that IGNOU was conferred by the Commonwealth of Learning (CoL), Vancouver, Canada the unique distinction of Centre of Excellence in Distance Education -- the only university in the Commonwealth to achieve this distinction; that the Commonwealth Education Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA) was set up at IGNOU; that the Staff Training and Research Institute in Distance Education (STRIDE) was estasblished: that the Distance Education Council (DEC) was established and Teleconferencing via the Satellitie was introduced -- each one is a development of far reaching consequence with immense potential for future growth. Mention must be made of Rajiv Gandhi Fellowship under which IGNOU extended its programme on `Distance Education’ to 19 developing countries.
IV. Fellowship of Academies: He is a Fellow, of the Academy of Sciences, Allahabad; Indian National Academy of Engineering, New Delhi; Institution of Engineers (India) Calcutta; and Computer Society of India.
V. Member/Chairman of Committees: He has been a member, Chairman of many Committees at the national and international levels in Hydrology, General Education, Distance Education. To mention only a few, he was a member of: the U.G.C. for two terms; the General Council as well as the Executive Committee of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE); the Joint Council of Vocational Education; General Council of NCERT; Indian-Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR); Board of Management of I.I.P.A, Vice President of the International Council for Distance Education (ICDE) for Asia; President of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU); President of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (London) for a brief period and President of the Indian Society for Technical Education for two terms. Chairman, All India Board of Undergraduate Studies, AICTE; Board of Faculty Development and Continuing Education, AICTE. He is currently Chairman of Tamil Academy, Chennai; Vice Chairman, Institute of Asian Studies; Chennai and Chairman, Tamil Virtual Academy based at Chennai as mentioned earlier.
VI. Service to Tamil Language and Literature: He is deeply interested in developing Tamil as a vehicle for modern knowledge. He is a relentless crusader for Tamil Script Reform to make learning Tamil easier. Perceiving reasonable possibilities in the Script reform advocacy, the Government appointed a Committee on Script Reform under his Chairmanship in 1996. His book on i.`Script Reform’ and ii.`Tamil for Science and Technology’ have run through several editions. He established a journal by name KALANGIAM “Treasure” a quarterly for promoting Tamil writing in modern areas of knowledge. He
is an acknowledged writer and a poet in Tamil. His book entitled
`Vazhum Valluvam’ (The Immortal Kural) was given the national honour
of Sahitya Akademi Award for the year 1988. In recognition of his contributions
to Tamil Literature, Jaffna Univesity, Sri Lanka conferred on him D.Litt
(Honoris Causa) in 1980. It is stated in the citation that:
He has so far published six volumes of poems, eight volumes of essays in prose, mostly of orginal nature and numerous articles in journals. The Government of Tamil Nadu conferred on him the prestigious `Thiruvalluvar Award’ consisting of a gold medallion, citation and Rs.One lakh (1999). The `Tamil Academy’ of which he is the Chairman is engaged in bringing out a series of 12 volumes of Medical Encyclopaedia of which eleven volumes have come out. The Academy has also planned and started work on a series of six volumes on Siddha Medicine.
VII.
Social Consciousness and Commitment: Born of a peasant family
in a remote village, being aware of the living conditions of an average
citizen and having been endowed with the benefit of advanced education,
he has a healthy and positive sense of social justice. An S.C. & S.T.
teacher training scheme introduced by him in Anna University is a
commendable effort to ensure that those from the disadvantaged, stand
on par with the rest in competence. The Commonwealth of Learning,
Vancouver, Canada (CoL) conferred on him the distinction of “Honorary
Fellow of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL)” for
what it says his:
VIII. Awards and Honors: He is the recipient of many awards and honours. He was conferred D.Sc., (Honoris Causa) / D.Litt. (Honoris Causa) by seven universities i.e., Jaffna University, Srilanka (1980); Alagappa University, Karaikudi (1997); Pondicherry University (1997); Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad (1999); Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi (2000); Karnataka State Open University, Mysore (2002); and Dr. B.R. Ambedkhar Open University, Hyderabad: was given the Indira Gandhi National Integration Award (1984); the Central Board of Irrigation and Power, Diamond Jubilee Award (1991): the U.G.C. Pranavananda Award for 1990; the Institution of Engineers Scroll of Honour as one of the Eminent Engineering Personalities of India (1991).
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