The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

state university A state university system in the United States is a group of public universities supported by an individual state, territory or federal district. These systems constitute the majority of public-funded universities in the country. State univer ...

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigious universities in India, incorporated by an act of the Legislative Council of India under the

British government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_est ...

. It is a collegiate

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kn ...

and has six campuses in the city: Chepauk,

Marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or ...

, Guindy, Taramani, Maduravoyal and

Chetpet Chetput is a major town and a municipality in Tiruvannamalai district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Chetput's major economical activity is processing paddy and the town is home to one of the largest organised paddy exchange market of the s ...

. It offers more than 230 courses under 87 academic departments of post-graduate teaching and research grouped under 18 schools, covering diverse areas such as sciences, social sciences, humanities, management and medicine along with 121 affiliated colleges and 53 approved research institutions. The university houses the national centres for advanced research in

nanotechnology Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal ...

photonics Photonics is a branch of optics that involves the application of generation, detection, and manipulation of light in form of photons through emission, transmission, modulation, signal processing, switching, amplification, and sensing. Though ...

and neurotoxicity. In addition, it has three ''Centres of Advanced Study (CAS)'' in

biophysics Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations. ...

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

and

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

. University of Madras is the alma mater of five presidents of India, including

A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (; 15 October 193127 July 2015) was an Indian aerospace scientist and statesman who served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. He was born and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu and studied phy ...

; two Indian physics

Nobel laureates The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make ou ...

, CV Raman and

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (; ) (19 October 1910 – 21 August 1995) was an Indian-American theoretical physicist who spent his professional life in the United States. He shared the 1983 Nobel Prize for Physics with William A. Fowler for " ...

; several notable mathematicians including

Srinivasa Ramanujan Srinivasa Ramanujan (; born Srinivasa Ramanujan Aiyangar, ; 22 December 188726 April 1920) was an Indian mathematician. Though he had almost no formal training in pure mathematics, he made substantial contributions to mathematical analysis, ...

;

Abel Prize The Abel Prize ( ; no, Abelprisen ) is awarded annually by the King of Norway to one or more outstanding mathematicians. It is named after the Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802–1829) and directly modeled after the Nobel Pri ...

winner

S. R. Srinivasa Varadhan Sathamangalam Ranga Iyengar Srinivasa Varadhan FRS (born 2 January 1940) is an Indian American mathematician, widely recognised as one of the most influential mathematicians of the 20th century. He is known for his fundamental contributions to ...

; and

Turing Award The ACM A. M. Turing Award is an annual prize given by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for contributions of lasting and major technical importance to computer science. It is generally recognized as the highest distinction in compu ...

winner

Raj Reddy Dabbala Rajagopal "Raj" Reddy (born 13 June 1937) is an Indian-American computer scientist and a winner of the Turing Award. He is one of the early pioneers of artificial intelligence and has served on the faculty of Stanford and Carnegie Mello ...

among others. The

National Assessment and Accreditation Council The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is a government organisation in India that assesses and accredits Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). It is an autonomous body funded by the University Grants Commission and headquarte ...

has conferred 'five star' accreditation to the university in the first cycle, and subsequently with its highest 'A' grade. The University of Madras has been given the status of 'university with potential for excellence (UPE)' by the University Grants Commission. Madras University is also recognized among the 18 universities in India having the 'Centre with Potential for Excellence in Particular Area (CPEPA)' with a focus on

drug development Drug development is the process of bringing a new pharmaceutical drug to the market once a lead compound has been identified through the process of drug discovery. It includes preclinical research on microorganisms and animals, filing for re ...

and

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

History

The first-ever demand for higher education in

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...

was given in a public address to Lord John Elphinstone, governor of Madras, signed by 70,000 residents when the

Governor-in-Council The King-in-Council or the Queen-in-Council, depending on the gender of the reigning monarch, is a constitutional term in a number of states. In a general sense, it would mean the monarch exercising executive authority, usually in the form of a ...

was contemplating "some effective and liberal measures for the establishment of an improved system of national education." This public petition, which was presented by the Advocate General Mr George Norton on 11 November 1839, pressed the need for an English college in the city of Madras. Pursuant to this, Lord Elphinstone evolved a plan for the establishment of a central collegiate institution or a ‘university.’ This university had twin departments – a high school for the cultivation of English literature, regional language, philosophy and science, and a college for instruction in the higher branches of literature, philosophy and science. The University Board was constituted in January 1840 with Mr George Norton as its president. This was the precursor of the present Presidency College, Chennai. A systematic educational policy for India was formulated 14 years later by Wood's despatch, which pointed out the rationale for "creating a properly articulated system of education from the primary school to the University." The dispatch recommended the establishment in the universities of professorships "for the purposes of the delivery of lectures in various branches of learning including vernacular as well as classical languages." As a result, the University of Madras, organised on the model of the University of London, was incorporated on 5 September 1857 by an act of the Legislative Council of India. The university progressed and expanded through the 19th century to span the whole of

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union terr ...

, giving birth to universities like

Mysore University The University of Mysore is a public state university in Mysore, Karnataka, India. The university was founded during the reign of Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, the Maharaja of Mysore. The university is recognised by the University Grants Commission ...

(1916),

Osmania University Osmania University is a collegiate public state university located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Mir Osman Ali Khan, the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad in 1918 , He released a farman to establish OSMANIA UNIVERSITY on the day of 28 August 1918. ...

(1918),

Andhra University Andhra University ( IAST: ''Āndhra Vișvakalāpariṣhat'') is a public university located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established in 1926. History King Vikram Deo Verma, the Maharaja of Jeypore was one of the bigge ...

(1926),

Annamalai University , logo = CampusmapofAU.jpg , image = Annamalai University logo.png , image_size = 225px , motto = "With Courage and Faith" , established = , type ...

(1929),

Travancore University University of Kerala, formerly the University of Travancore, is a state-run public university located in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital of Kerala, India. It was established in 1937 by a promulgation of the Maharajah of Travancore, Chit ...

(1937) presently University of Kerala,

Sri Venkateswara University Sri Venkateswara University (commonly referred as S. V. University or SVU) is a public state university located in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India. The university is named after Lord Venkateswara, whose shrine is located in the city. The un ...

(1954), Madurai Kamaraj University (1966),

Tamil Nadu Agricultural University Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) is the state agricultural university of Tamil Nadu located in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. History The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University had its genesis from establishment of an agricultural s ...

(1971), Anna University (1978),

Tamil University The Tamil University is a public state university located in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India. It was established to provide higher research in the Tamil language. Location The university is situated in a campus of about , granted by th ...

(1981), Bharathidasan University (1982),

Bharathiar University Bharathiar University is a public state university in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. Named after Tamil poet Subramania Bharati, the university was established in February 1982 under the provision of Bharathiar University Act, 1981 (Act 1 of 19 ...

(1982), Mother Teresa Women's University (1984), Alagappa University (1985), Dr. M.G.R. Medical University (1989), Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (1989),

Manonmaniam Sundaranar University Manonmaniam Sundaranar University is a university in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It was hived off the Madurai Kamaraj University on 7 September 1990. The motto of the university is "In Pursuit of Excellence". It is named after the Tamil sc ...

(1990),

Periyar University Periyar University is a university in Salem, Tamil Nadu, India. It was established by the Government of Tamil Nadu in 1997. It is named after social reformer Thanthai Periyar E. V. Ramasamy. The University Grants Commissions, New Delhi bestowe ...

(1997), Dr. Ambedkar Law University (1996) and

Thiruvalluvar University Thiruvalluvar University is a public state university in the city of Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India. It was established by the Government of Tamil Nadu, under the Thiruvalluvar University Act, 2002 (Tamil Nadu Act 32 of 2002). The university was n ...

(2002). In 1912 endowments were made to the university to establish departments of Indian History, Archaeology, Comparative Philology and Indian Economics. In that year the university had 17 departments, 30 teachers, and 69 research scholars. Later the research and teaching functions of the university were encouraged by the

Sadler Commission Sadler may refer to: * Sadler (surname), people with the surname ''Sadler'' * James Sadler and Sons Ltd English pottery manufacturer * Sadler, Kentucky, United States; an unincorporated community * Sadler, Texas, United States; a city * Sadler r ...

and the gains of the university were consolidated by the enactment of the Madras University Act of 1923. About this time, the territorial ambit of the Madras University encompassed from

Berhampur Brahmapur (; also known as Berhampur) is a city on the eastern coastline of Ganjam district of the Indian state of Odisha. Bramhapur is most famous for its street food, silk sarees or pato sarees, temples and many historical places. Bramhapur al ...

of Odisha in the North East,

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its List of renamed Indian cities and states, former name Trivandrum (), is the Capital city, capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as ...

of Kerala in the South West,

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

and

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka– ...

of Karnataka in the West and

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern Indi ...

of Andhra Pradesh in the North. Between 1926 and 1939, the university published the comprehensive ''

Tamil Lexicon ''Tamil Lexicon'' (Tamil: தமிழ்ப் பேரகராதி ''Tamiḻ Pērakarāti'') is a twelve-volume dictionary of the Tamil language. Published by the University of Madras, it is said to be the most comprehensive dictionary of t ...

'' dictionary, which is the first among the dictionaries published in any Indian language.

Coat of arms

University of Madras Entrance Arch at Chepauk Campus

The description of the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

of the university, designed in 1857, is:

"Argent ''(silver or white)'' on a Mount issuant from the basement a Tiger passant proper ''(walking and coloured naturally)'', on a Chief Sable ''(black across the top)'', a Pale Or ''(a gold or yellow vertical strip down the centre 1/3 of the top or chief)'', thereon, between two Elephants heads couped of the field, a lotus flower leaved and slipped of the third, together with this motto ''Doctrina Vim Promovet Insitam''".

The coat of arms colours are: the base is light green, the tiger is yellow on a white background, the elephant is grey on a black background, the lotus is a white flower with olive green leaves, on a gold background. The motto scroll is edged red, with black lettering. The English translation of the motto of the University of Madras is: "Learning promotes natural talent."

Campus

The university has six campuses: Chepauk,

, Guindy, Taramani,

and Maduravoyal. The Chepauk campus of the university houses the administrative buildings, the historic Senate House, central library, clock tower, centenary auditorium, and several departments under arts, humanities and social science streams. The schools of oriental and Indian are located at the Marina campus. The Guindy campus incorporates the natural sciences departments while the campus at Taramani houses the school of basic medical sciences. The sports union and the botanical garden are based on Chetpet and Maduravoyal campuses respectively. The Department of Mathematics of the university is operated as the

Ramanujan Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics Ramanujan Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics (RIASM) is the Department of Mathematics of University of Madras. This name was adopted in 1967. History The University of Madras was incorporated in 1857 and the Department of Mathematics ...

located close to the Chepauk campus. The university has two

constituent college A collegiate university is a university in which functions are divided between a central administration and a number of constituent colleges. Historically, the first collegiate university was the University of Paris and its first college was the C ...

, in Nemmeli and

Thiruvottiyur Tiruvottriyur (Thiruvottiyur or TVT) is a neighbourhood in North Chennai, administered by the Greater Chennai Corporation. It is part of the Tondiarpet division, located to the north of Chennai. It is one of the fifteen administrative zones in t ...

, offerings courses in arts and science. Since 1981, the university has also developed an Institute of Distance Education, offering various academic and professional programmes approved by University Grants Commission under the choice-based credit system (CBCS) pattern.

Senate House

The University of Madras has a historical monument – Senate House – which is one of the landmarks of the city of Chennai. Srinivasachari, p 341 The Senate House, the university's first building, inaugurated in the year 1879, is a masterpiece of

Robert Fellowes Chisholm Robert Fellowes Chisholm (11 January 1840 – 28 May 1915) was a British architect who pioneered the Indo-Saracenic style of architecture in Madras. Early life Chisholm was born in London on 11 January 1840 (or on 3 November 1838, according ...

, an architect of the 19th century, who blended the Indo-Saracenic style with Byzantine and European architectural features. Srinivasachari, Introduction, p xxxi The university renovated the Senate House in 2006.

Organisation and administration

Governance

The organisational structure of Madras University consists of the Senate, the Syndicate, the Academic Council, the faculties, the Finance Committee, and the boards of studies. The governor of Tamil Nadu is the chancellor of the university. The vice-chancellor is the executive head of the university. The registrar of the university, who is the secretary of the Syndicate, is the custodian of all the records and chief administrator of the university. The examinations of the university is managed by Office of the Controller of Examinations.

Schools and departments

University of Madras is organized into eighteen main schools, each of which comprises multiple departments and centres as below:

Affiliated colleges and research institutions

The university currently has 121 affiliated colleges, with 3 approved institutions, 5 institutions for diploma and certificate courses, 15 stand alone institutions for professional education, and 53 approved research Institutions as of 2019.

Notable colleges

* Loyola College * Presidency College *

Madras Christian College Madras Christian College (MCC) is a liberal arts and sciences college in Chennai, India. Founded in 1837, MCC is one of Asia's oldest extant colleges. The college is affiliated to the University of Madras but functions as an autonomous insti ...

* Stella Maris College * Women's Christian College * Ethiraj College * Queen Mary's College * The New College * Madras School of Social Work *

Madras Sanskrit College The Madras Sanskrit College is a government-aided Sanskrit college located in Mylapore, Chennai. The college was founded by an eminent jurist and philanthropist V. Krishnaswamy Iyer in 1906. In 2017, the college has launched its digital campus t ...

* AM Jain College * Guru Nanak College * Vaishnav College * Pachaiyappa's College * SHASUN College * Vaishnav College for Women * Vivekananda College * JBAS College for Women

Research institutions

Adyar Cancer Institute The Cancer Institute (WIA - Womens' Indian Association), also known as the Adyar Cancer Institute, is a non-profit cancer treatment and research centre based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The Cancer Institute (WIA) was established in the year 1952 u ...

Central Leather Research Institute Central Leather Research Institute or CLRI is the world's largest leather research institute in terms of research papers and patents. The institute located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu was founded on 24 April 1948 as a constituent laboratory under the ...

* Central Institute of Brackish Water Aquaculture * Defence Services Staff College * International Institute of Tamil Studies *

Institute for Financial Management and Research IFMR - Graduate School of Business at Krea University is a private business school located at Sri City, in Andhra Pradesh, India, about 70 km from Chennai. IFMR offered a 2-year PGDM program which is accredited by AICTE till 2016. Curren ...

King Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research King Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research is a medicine research institute located in Guindy, Chennai, India. It was established on 7 November 1899 with the aim of protecting against scourging infections and was named after Lt. Col. W. ...

Loyola Institute of Business Administration Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA) is a private business school in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, was founded by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1979. It is situated on the Loyola College, Chennai, campus and run by the Loyola ...

Madras Institute of Development Studies The Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS) is a research institute based in Chennai. It is a joint undertaking of the Governments of India and Tamil Nadu for conducting research on development problems in Tamil Nadu and the rest of Ind ...

* Madras School of Economics * Madras Diabetes Research Foundation *

MS Swaminathan Research Foundation The M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) is a nonprofit NGO trust based in Chennai, India. It develops and promotes strategies for economic growth that directly target increased employment of poor women in rural areas. Their methods max ...

* National Defence College *

National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis The National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT) is a tuberculosis research organization located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. NIRT carries out research on clinical, bacteriological as well as behavioural and epidemiological aspects of tuber ...

Zoological Survey of India The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), founded on 1 July 1916 by Government of India Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, as premier Indian organisation in zoological research and studies to promote the survey, exploration and r ...

* National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research *

National Institute of Epidemiology The National Institute of Epidemiology (NIE) is a medical research organisation located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. NIE conducts research including interventional studies, disease modelling and health systems, conducts epidemiological investigation ...

Academics

Rankings and reputation

Internationally, Madras University is ranked 541-550 overall and 48th global research institution in the

QS World University Rankings ''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for th ...

for the year 2023. In India, the

National Institutional Ranking Framework The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) is a methodology adopted by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, to rank institutions of higher education in India. The Framework was approved by the MHRD and launched by Minister ...

ranked it 22nd among universities in 2020. The Week-Hansa Research best university survey of 2019 ranked it 11th in the multi-disciplinary university category and it was ranked 20th in the Outlook-ICARE university ranking of 2020.

Madras University Library System

The library system of the university consists of four central libraries located at its Chepauk, Marina, Guindy and Taramani campus. Besides, many of the departments and centres have their own library collections. The main university library located at Chepauk was started in 1907 in the Connemara Public Library, later shifted to the existing building in 1936.

S. R. Ranganathan Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan ( 9 August 1892 – 27 September 1972) was a librarian and mathematician from India. His most notable contributions to the field were his five laws of library science and the development of the first major fac ...

(a mathematician) was appointed as the first librarian of the university, whose contribution in the development of the field of library sciences is noteworthy. The library collection includes textbooks, reference books, journals, theses, archives of government gazettes, newsprints, magazines, photographs, rare manuscripts, with a total collection of approximately 1 million volumes, which is among the largest collection of a university library in India. The library system also maintains a database of e-books, digital multimedia resources and subscribed to over four thousand e-journals under the UGC-INFONET Digital Library Consortium. The

Government of Tamil Nadu Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature ...

oriental manuscripts library and research centre is located within the main library building at Chepauk. The library is considered as the treasure house for ancient Indian knowledge. Comprises over 25,373 reference books and 72,714 Sanskrit and Tamil manuscripts written on palm leaf, copper plates, tree barks, leather etc. on subjects, like mathematics, astronomy, ayurveda, architecture, fine arts, grammar and literature. The Library of the

Indian Mathematical Society Indian Mathematical Society (IMS) is the oldest organization in India devoted to the promotion of study and research in mathematics. The Society was founded in April 1907 by V. Ramaswami Aiyar with its headquarters at Pune. The Society started ...

, started in 1907 in Pune, is now housed in the campus of the

Research

In 2007, the university was given a special grant of by the

Ministry of Human Resource Development The Ministry of Education ( MoE; formerly the Ministry of Human Resource Development from 1985 to 2020) is a Union Government ministries of India, ministry of the Government of India, responsible for the implementation of the National Policy on ...

to establish a nanotechnology research centre in commemoration of its

sesqui-centenary An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saints. ...

(150th year) celebration. In 2011, University Grants Commission (UGC) selected the university for its third phase of ''University with Potential for Excellence (UPE)'' scheme, under which were sanctioned for a period of five years. Earlier, the university was selected for the inaugural phase of the scheme in 2001-02 along with JNU,

Hyderabad University The University of Hyderabad (IAST: ''Hydarāvād visvavidyālayamu'') is a top ranking public central research university located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Founded in 1974, this mostly residential campus has more than 5,000 students a ...

, Jadavpur University and Pune University. The ''National Centre for Ultrafast Process (NCUFP)'' of the university has mobilized research grants to the tune through several funded projects including the DST, CSIR,

DRDO The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) (IAST: ''Raksā Anūsandhān Evam Vikās Sangaṭhan'') is the premier agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development in Ministry of Defence of the Government of India, ...

and UGC. The Department of Crystallography and Biophysics was upgraded as a ''Centre of Advanced Study (CAS)'' in 2007 and a grant of was given for modernising research laboratories. The ''School of Life Sciences'' of the university received a grant of by the

Department of Biotechnology The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) is an Indian government department, under the Ministry of Science and Technology responsible for administrating development and commercialisation in the field of modern biology and biotechnology in India. It ...

, under BUILDER (Boost to University of Interdisciplinary Life Science Departments for Education and Research) for strengthening teaching and research programmes during 2014–2019. A study performed by the NISTADS on the research performance of universities in India during 1998–2008 ranked Madras University at No. 5 based on publication for that period. In addition, UGC has identified the Department of Geology and Department of Zoology as the ''Centres of Excellence'' and has allotted each for their development. In 2019,

of Government of India granted to the university for upgrading its research capabilities under

Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan Rashtriya Uchchattar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) (Hindi for "National Higher Education Mission") is a holistic education, holistic scheme of development for higher education in India initiated in 2013 by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (Indi ...

(RUSA) scheme.

Notable alumni

The University of Madras has a strong alumni network, with its alumni taking over many prestigious positions across the world. Some of the prominent alumni include Nobel laureates

C. V. Raman Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (; 7 November 188821 November 1970) was an Indian physicist known for his work in the field of light scattering. Using a spectrograph that he developed, he and his student K. S. Krishnan discovered that when ...

and S. Chandrasekhar, mathematicians

K. S. Chandrasekharan, and

, leading scientists, Raja Ramanna, Rajagopala Chidambaram, M. Visvesvaraya,

E. C. George Sudarshan Ennackal Chandy George Sudarshan (also known as E. C. G. Sudarshan; 16 September 1931 – 13 May 2018) was an Indian American theoretical physicist and a professor at the University of Texas. Sudarshan has been credited with numerous contrib ...

G. N. Ramachandran Gopalasamudram Narayanan Ramachandran, or G.N. Ramachandran, FRS (8 October 1922 – 7 April 2001) was an Indian physicist who was known for his work that led to his creation of the Ramachandran plot for understanding peptide structure. He wa ...

V. S. Ramachandran Vilayanur Subramanian Ramachandran (born 10 August 1951) is an Indian-American neuroscientist. He is known for his wide-ranging experiments and theories in behavioral neurology, including the invention of the mirror box. Ramachandran is a dis ...

and Alladi Ramakrishnan Former presidents Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, V. V. Giri, Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, R. Venkataraman and

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (; 15 October 193127 July 2015) was an Indian aerospace scientist and statesman who served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. He was born and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu and studied phy ...

, politicians

Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (10 December 1878 – 25 December 1972), popularly known as Rajaji or C.R., also known as Mootharignar Rajaji (Rajaji'', the Scholar Emeritus''), was an Indian statesman, writer, lawyer, and independence activis ...

, C Subramaniam, CN Annadurai, and V. K. Krishna Menon, civil servants

T. N. Seshan Tirunellai Narayana Iyer Seshan (15 December 1932 – 10 November 2019) was an Indian civil servant and bureaucrat who served with the Indian Administrative Service. After serving in various positions in Madras and in various ministries of the ...

Benegal Rama Rau Sir Benegal Rama Rau CIE, ICS (1 July 1889 – 13 December 1969) was the fourth Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 1 July 1949 to 14 January 1957. Early life and family He was born in a Konkani-speaking Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin fa ...

, Y. Venugopal Reddy and

C. Sylendra Babu C. Sylendra Babu (born 5 June 1962) is an Indian Police Service Officer who served as the Director General of Police and Head of Police Force, Tamil Nadu Police. Early life and education Sylendra Babu was born in the town of Kuzhithurai, Ka ...

Rhodes scholars Eric Prabhakar and Tanjore R. Anantharaman, pioneers

Verghese Kurien Verghese Kurien (26 November 1921 - 9 September 2012), known as the "Father of the White Revolution" in India, was a social entrepreneur whose "billion-litre idea", Operation Flood, made dairy farming India's largest self-sustaining industry a ...

and

M. S. Swaminathan Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan (born 7 August 1925) is an Indian agronomist, agricultural scientist, plant geneticist, administrator and humanitarian. Swaminathan is a global leader of the green revolution. He has been called the main archit ...

, economist K. N. Raj and C. Rangarajan, business persons

Indra Nooyi Indra Nooyi (née Krishnamurthy; born October 28, 1955) is an Indian-American business executive and former chief executive officer and chairperson of PepsiCo. She has consistently ranked among the world's 100 most powerful women. In 2014, sh ...

Ram Shriram Kavitark Ram Shriram (born 1956/57) is an Indian-American billionaire businessman and philanthropist. He is a founding board member and one of the first investors in Google. He was earlier employed by Amazon, working for Jeff Bezos. Shriram cam ...

and

Prathap C. Reddy Prathap Chandra Reddy (born 5 February 1933) is an Indian entrepreneur and cardiologist who founded the first corporate chain of hospitals in India, the Apollo Hospitals. ''India Today'' ranked him 48th in its 2017 list of India's 50 most pow ...

, artists and film personality

M.G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...

, K. C. S. Paniker,

Gemini Ganesan Ramasamy Ganesan (17 November 1920 – 22 March 2005), better known by his stage name Gemini Ganesan, was an Indian actor who worked mainly in Tamil cinema. He was referred to as the ''Kaadhal Mannan'' (King of Romance) for his romantic roles ...

Mani Ratnam Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1956), known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and few Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films. Ratnam has won six ...

and Mahesh Babu, sports stars

Viswanathan Anand Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster and a former five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and is one of the few players to have ...

, Vijay Amritraj, Ramanathan Krishnan and Srinivas 'Venkat' among others. File:Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari.jpg, Last governor-general of India, C. Rajagopalachari File:Photograph of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan presented to First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in 1962.jpg, 2nd president of India, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan File:VV Giri 1974 stamp of India (cropped).jpg, 4th president of India, V.V. Giri File:Neelam Sanjiva Reddy.jpg, 6th president of India,

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (; 19 May 1913 – 1 June 1996) was an Indian politician who served as the sixth President of India, serving from 1977 to 1982. Beginning a long political career with the Indian National Congress Party in the independence ...

File:President Shri R Venkataraman (narendramodiofficial Flickr).jpg, 8th president of India,

R Venkataraman Ramaswamy Venkataraman (, 4 December 191027 January 2009) was an Indian lawyer, Indian independence activist and politician who served as a Union Minister and as the eighth president of India. Venkataraman was born in Rajamadam village in T ...

File:A. P. J. Abdul Kalam in 2008.jpg, 11th president of India,

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (; 15 October 193127 July 2015) was an Indian aerospace scientist and statesman who served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. He was born and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu and studied phy ...

File:General K. M. Cariappa.jpg, 1st Indian commander-in-chief of the Indian Army, Field Marshal K. M. Cariappa File:Justice M. Patanjali Sastri.jpg, 2nd chief justice of India, M. Patanjali Sastri File:Vishveshvarayya in his 30's.jpg, 19th Diwan of Mysore and Civil Engineer, Sir. M. Visvesvaraya File:Sir CV Raman.JPG, Physics Nobel laureate, Sir C. V. Raman File:Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.gif, Physics Nobel laureate,

File:Srinivasa Ramanujan - OPC - 1.jpg, Mathematician,

File:Srinivasa Varadhan Heidelberg.JPG, Mathematician, Abel Prize Winner,

File:ECG_Sudarshan.jpg, Theoretical Physicist,

File:Rajagopala Chidambaram.jpg, Nuclear Physicist, Rajagopala Chidambaram File:Photo of Prof Raj Reddy taken in Hyderabad.jpg, Computer scientist, Turing Awardee,

File:Vilayanur S Ramachandran 2011 Shankbone.JPG, Cognitive neuroscientist,

File:IndraNooyiDavos2010ver2.jpg, PepsiCo Chairperson,

File:Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan - Kolkata 2013-01-07 2674.JPG, Father of Green revolution,

File:Palaniappan Chidambaram - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2011.jpg, Former Union

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

, P. Chidambaram File:VishyAnand09.jpg, Chess grandmaster,

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Madras, University Of History of Chennai Education in Chennai Educational institutions established in 1857 Universities in Chennai 1857 establishments in British India