Professor Kandiah David Arulpragasam (16 September 1931 – 7 August 2003) was a

Sri Lankan Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, form the plurality in the Eastern Province a ...

academic. He was the first

vice-chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

Eastern University, Sri Lanka The Eastern University Sri Lanka (abbreviated as EUSL) is a public university in Vantharumoolai, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. It was established on 1 October 1986. The university was preceded by the Batticaloa University College established on ...

Early life and family

Arulpragasam was born on 16 September 1931. He was educated at the

S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia (abbreviated as STC), is a fee-levying Anglican selective entry boys' private school in Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by James Chapman, the first Anglican Bishop of Colombo, in 1851, it was founded as ...

St. John's College, Jaffna St. John's College ( ''Ceṉ. Yōvāṉ Kallūri'', SJC) is a private school in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Founded in 1823 by British Anglican missionaries, it is one of Sri Lanka's oldest schools. History In 1817 the Anglican Church Mission Society (CMS ...

Hartley College Hartley College ( ''Hāṭlik Kallūri'') is a provincial school in Point Pedro, Sri Lanka. Founded in 1838 by British Methodist missionaries, it is one of Sri Lanka's oldest schools. The school is named after Wesleyan priest and missionary Rev. ...

and

Ananda College Ananda College () is a Prestigious Buddhist school in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is often known as "The Pinnacle of buddhist education " It is the largest national Buddhist school for boys in Sri Lanka, with a student population exceeding 8000 ac ...

. After school he joined the

University of Ceylon The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Univ ...

, Colombo from where he graduated with BSc degree in zoology. He then went to the UK for postgraduate studies. He gained a

Phd A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in marine zoology from the

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

. He then did post-doctoral training in oceanography at the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

. Arulpragasam never married but lived with his brother (Arulanantham) and sister-in-law (Padma).

Career

Arulpragasam joined the Department of Zoology at the

Faculty of Science, University of Colombo The University of Colombo currently has seven faculties with 41 academic departments and two interdependent schools with five academic departments. All faculties and schools carries out courses of study and research in both graduate and undergradua ...

, becoming Professor of Zoology in 1973. He was Dean of the Faculty of Science for a couple of years. Arulpragasam was appointed Director of Batticaloa University College in April 1985. The college was given full university status in October 1986 and Arulpragasam became its first vice-chancellor. In October 1996 Arulpragasam was appointed Vice Chairman (Planning) of the second National Education Commission. He was chairman of the Central Environmental Authority and First Associate Director of the Institute of Fundamental Studies. He was also a member of the University Grants Commission and the Governing Council of the National Aquatic Research and Resources Development Authority. He was president of the National Academy of Sciences between 1995 and 1997.

Death

Arulpragasam died in

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

on 7 August 2003.

Research Publications

* Arudpragasam K.D. and Costa H.H. Atyidae of Ceylon.I. Crustaceana, 1962; 4: 1-24. * Arudpragasam K.D. and Naylor E. Gill ventilation and the role of reversed respiratory currents in . Journal of Experimental Biology, 1964; 41: 299–307. * Arudpragasam K.D. and Naylor E. Gill ventilation volumes, oxygen consumption and respiratory rhythms in . Journal of Experimental Biology, 1964; 41: 309–321. * Arudpragasam K.D. and Naylor E. Patterns of gill ventilation in some decapod Crustacea. Journal of Zoology, 1966; 150: 401–411.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arulpragasam, K. D. 1931 births 2003 deaths Academic staff of the University of Colombo Alumni of Ananda College Alumni of Hartley College Alumni of St. John's College, Jaffna Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia Alumni of the University of Ceylon (Colombo) Alumni of the University of Southampton Alumni of the University of Wales Sri Lankan Tamil people Sri Lankan academics Sri Lankan Tamil writers Vice-chancellors of Eastern University, Sri Lanka