Alagiah Thurairajah (Tamil: அழகையா துரைராசா, romanized: Aḻakaiyā Turairācā; 10 November 1934 – 11 June 1994) was a Sri Lankan academic and vice-chancellor of the University of Jaffna.
Professor A. Thurairajah | |
|---|---|
அ. துரைராசா | |
 | |
| 2nd Vice-Chancellor of the University of Jaffna | |
| In office September 1988 – April 1994 | |
| Preceded by | S. Vithiananthan |
| Succeeded by | K. Kunaratnam |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 10 November 1934 Kamparmalai, Ceylon |
| Died | 11 June 1994 (aged 59) Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Alma mater | Udupiddy AMC Hartley College University of Ceylon University of Cambridge |
| Profession | Academic |
| Ethnicity | Sri Lankan Tamil |
Early life and family
editThurairajah was born on 10 November 1934 in Kamparmalai in northern Ceylon.[1][2] He was the son of Velupillai Alagiah and Sellammah from Imaiyanan in Vadamarachchi.[1] He was educated at the Udupiddy American Mission College and Hartley College.[1][2] After completing school he commenced studies at the University of Ceylon in July 1953, graduating with a BSc degree in civil engineering in 1957.[1][2]
Thurairajah then served as an instructor in civil engineering at the university until March 1958 when he started working for the Public Works Department as a Junior Assistant Engineer for four months.[2] He then went to the University of Cambridge on a scholarship after Kenneth H. Roscoe chose him to be his research student.[2] Between October 1958 and December 1961 Thurairajah assisted Roscoe in his research into shear properties of soils.[1][2] This research earned Thurairajah a PhD in June 1962 with a thesis titled Some shear properties of kaolin and of sand.[1][2]
Thurairajah married Rajeswari.[1] They had three daughters and two sons.[1][2] His younger son, Alahesh Thurairajah continued the Legacy of his father and earned a great reputation in geotechnical community. He is currently serving as President and Principal of a Geotechnical Firm 'Earth Mechanics, Inc.', based near Los Angeles, California.
Career
editAfter Cambridge Thurairajah worked in London for a company called Terreasearch Ltd for a while in 1962 before returning to Ceylon.[1][2] He joined the University of Ceylon as a lecturer.[1][2] He was visiting assistant professor at the University of Waterloo before becoming Professor of Civil Engineering in 1971 at the University of Ceylon.[1][2] He was Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the Peradeniya Campus of the University of Sri Lanka from May 1975 to September 1977, and February 1982 to February 1985.[1][2][3] He was visiting professor at the University of British Columbia between October 1977 and December 1978.[1][2] He was Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the Open University of Sri Lanka from April 1987 to August 1988.[1][2]
Thurairajah became vice-chancellor of the University of Jaffna in September 1988.[1][2][4] He resigned in March 1994 on medical grounds.[1][2]
Thurairajah moved to Colombo for treatment and re-joined the Open University.[1] He died on 11 June 1994 in Colombo due to cardiovascular failure brought about by leukaemia.[1][2] He was posthumously awarded the Maamanithar (Great Man) honour by the LTTE Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.[5]
Thurairajah was a fellow of the National Academy of Sciences (Sri Lanka) from 1977; Institution of Civil Engineers (Sri Lanka) from 1979; and the Institution of Civil Engineers (UK) from May 1985.[1][2] He was president of the National Academy of Sciences (Sri Lanka) in 1986.[1] He was president of the Institution of Civil Engineers (Sri Lanka) between October 1989 to October 1990.[2] He was an expert on soil engineering.[6]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Arumugam, S. (1997). Dictionary of Biography of the Tamils of Ceylon. p. 233.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "Appreciation: Prof. Alagiah Thurairajah" (PDF). Tamil Times. Vol. XIII, no. 6. 15 June 1994. p. 33. ISSN 0266-4488.
- ^ "Past Deans". University of Peradeniya. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
- ^ "Establishment of the Jaffna Campus of the University of Sri Lanka". University of Jaffna. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012.
- ^ "'Great man' award to Tamilnet editor". BBC Sinhala. 1 May 2005.
- ^ "Alagiah Thurairajah".