CHENNAI: Several professors, alumni of the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani, and senior citizens paid rich tribute to the late V. Lakshminarayanan, founder-director of the organisation, at a `remembrance function' organised in the city on Saturday.

The function was jointly organised by the Professor V. Lakshminarayanan Memorial Trust and the Chennai chapter of the Birla Institute of Technology and Science Alumni Association (BITSAA) to coincide with the birth centenary celebration of the academic. A seminar has been organised at the institute on September 16, when a portrait of V. Lakshminarayanan would be unveiled.

Speakers dwelt upon various facets of the man — from being a lecturer and strict disciplinarian, first at the Guindy College of Engineering and later at BITS, Pilani, to his concern for the personal wellbeing of his students.

`A great teacher too'

S. Venkateswaran, former Vice-Chancellor of BITS, Pilani, said V. Lakshminarayanan was not just a person who built a prestigious educational institution but also a great teacher. "The number of people who can motivate students to take up teaching is very small. He was one such person."

Several old students of the academic said that he was an extraordinary teacher, especially of trigonometric drawings and had also authored some textbooks on the subject.

V. Lakshminarayanan's family members said his teaching career began when he served as junior assistant in the Mechanical Engineering department at the College of Engineering, Guindy, in 1932. He then joined the Engineering College in Pilani and amalgamated the three colleges there, namely the College of Engineering, College of Arts and Science, and College of Pharmacy and Commerce, to form BITS, Pilani.

Tamil writer Sivasankari, BITSAA member K. Srikant and Dr. Nirmala Subramanian of the Prof. V. Lakshminarayanan Memorial Trust spoke.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail