Prof Rajaraman, 'Pitamah' of India's computer science education, dies at 92

BENGALURU: Prof Vaidyeswaran Rajaraman, widely regarded as the "Pitamah" of computer science education in India, passed away due to age-related ailments at his Tatanagar residence here on Saturday aged 92.

The students he taught included Faqir Chand Kohli, the first CEO of TCS, and Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy. Instrumental in establishing India's first formal academic programme in computer science in 1965 at IIT Kanpur, Rajaraman laid the foundation for the nation's technological revolution. Born in 1933, Prof Rajaraman dedicated more than six decades to shaping India's computing landscape. "I was his student at IIT Kanpur in the late Sixties. He was a scholar and a gentleman.

He and his very kind wife, Dharma, were like guardians for every student in the EE department at IITK. He was always available for any mentoring," Narayana Murthy said. As chairman of the Supercomputer Education and Research Centre (SERC) at IISc from 1982 to 1994, Prof Rajaraman built India's supercomputing and parallel computing capabilities, empowering research institutions with advanced computational resources.

His vision led to the creation of the master of computer applications (MCA) programme for science and commerce graduates, addressing critical human resource needs in the emerging IT industry.

In 1987, chairing a committee set up by the Science Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, he recommended establishing the Centre for the Development of Advanced Computing to develop indigenous supercomputers. "He is one of the great visionaries who thought of supercomputers when people didn't know if it was spelt as one word or two.

In computer education, there are no two opinions about his contributions at all. Above all, he was a great human being. I've never seen him angry in all my years of association with him. It is a great loss," Prof N Balakrishnan (Balki), a supercomputer expert instrumental in establishing SERC, told TOI. Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan, said: "Prof Rajaraman is the doyen of Indian computer science education...

His textbooks are the first introduction to programming for many Indian students. We have lost a pioneer of the computer industry in India." Prof Rajaraman's contributions to e-governance were transformative. As a member of Karnataka's Technical Advisory Panel (1985-2014), he guided landmark initiatives, including the Bhoomi project for land registration and the Kaveri project for property registration, pioneering digital governance in India. Prof Vaidyeswaran Rajaraman received the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (1976) and was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 1998. Prof Rajaraman, whose final rites were performed Saturday, is survived by his wife Dharma Rajaraman.