Mr. Ramanath Vairavan, Founder/Chairman

Mr. Vairavan, the grandson of Dr. RM. Alagappa Chettiar has been an avid student of instrumental music and is passionate about Indian arts. He recognized the need to enable students of the art to get rewarded for their years of rigorous practice and dedication. At the same time he wanted to propagate the practice of these arts in its pristine purity to the western world. Hence he pioneered this novel academic program in performing arts in conformity with tradition. With prior experience in developing structured learning programs for distant education learning courses  in the medical industry, in collaboration with Alagappa University, and able guidance from leading veterans of the art, he has designed this comprehensive program. This program provides an opportunity for avid students to obtain certification for their years of study of this art. Having pioneered the academic program in performing arts with focus on Bharathanatyam with more than 700+ students registered in the program worldwide, he has introduced the Vocal and Instrumental Music program recently. Other novel programs about to be introduced includes Vastu Shastra and Vedic Astrology. He is actively pursuing to get accreditation for these academic programs by International Universities.

Mr. Ramanath Vairavan obtained his undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering at the Alagappa College of Technology in Madras in 1970 and went on to pursue his post graduate education at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA, with a Master of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering and a Master’s Degree in of Business Administration. He held various executive positions with the multinational company Hoechst AG of Germany in the US, Germany and Singapore. He founded a company in California, named Caldon Biotech Inc., engaged in the development, manufacturing and distribution of clinical diagnostic reagents and instrumentation. He is also a co-founder of AutoGenomics Inc., a company based in California that has developed molecular genetic testing platform that has the versatility to revolutionize the way patients are diagnosed, monitored and managed leading to the era of personalized medicine.

Being a member of the Dr. Alagappa Chettiar Educational Trust, he is actively involved in the management of the Alagappa Group of institutions in Chennai and Karaikudi.

Dr. Umayal Ramanathan, Patron

The daughter of the great visionary Dr. R.M Alagappa Chettiar, Dr. Mrs. Umayal Ramanathan imbibed all the attributes of her illustrious father, embellished the value of social service and has passionately pursued it ever since. Her mission has clearly been to continue and pave the path to enhance education from primary schooling for children all the way up to professional technical education. She founded two higher secondary schools in her father’s name – one in Karaikudi and another in Chennai. Her crowning achievement was the establishment of the Dr. Umayal Ramanathan College for Women in Karaikudi in 2005 to empower women in this rural conservative community by offering academic programs that will enable them to advance their careers and enhance the quality of life for themselves and their families.

Apart from being the Secretary and Correspondent of The Alagappa Schools in Chennai and Karaikudi, she has held various important positions such as a member of the Syndicate of The Agricultural University at Coimbatore for two terms and a Member of the Senate of the Madurai Kamaraj University. As an active Social Worker, she was the member of the Social Welfare Board for Ramnad District for 2 terms. She was the Chairman in the Gangadeeshwarar Temple Committee for 3 years following which she became the Thakkar of the same temple.

Her service to the cause of education and society was duly recognized when she was awarded:
• The Doctor of letters Degree by the Honourable Governor of Tamil Nadu in 1987.
• The prestigious Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini award for her outstanding services to society in 1994.
• The Doctor of letters Degree from Madras University on its 150th Anniversary in 2007.

Mrs. Alagu Vairavan, Managing Director

As an avid enthusiast of Bharathanatyam, Mrs. Vairavan has groomed her children through Arangetrams in Bharathanatyam and Carnatic music. She is passionate about propagating this art and has worked actively in social organizations. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and has worked in a wide spectrum of market segments, from manufacturing of cosmetics in London, England to network marketing as in Shaklee Corporation in Boston, MA and social service organizations in the US.

Mr. G. Naresh Kumar, General Manager

Has been actively involved with the Alagappa group of institutions since 1997 serving as the Vice President, Operations of the Alagappa Institute of Technology, a service-oriented institution with a primary focus on providing education in emerging academic disciplines such as Information Technology. He is actively involved in setting up distant education centers for universities such as Alagappa University, Manipal University, Pondicherry University in India and Malaysia.

A G Rajagopal, Academic Counsellor

Appadurai Govindasamy Rajagopal alias Iyappan is an accomplished Astrologer. Schooled by Vedic teachers from an early age he became proficient in astrology under the personal tutelage of a revered saint in Kollimalai located in Namakkal district using the traditional method of reading palm leafs written by Agathiyar. He is passionate about the subject and has written several articles and columns in journals on Astrology. As Astrology integrates various belief systems correlating a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events that take place, Mr. Rajagopal has done a lot of research in this field and is in the process of developing a structured learning program so that students will be able to obtain a degree in Astrology.