Appreciations
View(s):Rajan Chanmugam
What he has accomplished will remain with us for a long time
Dr. Jayarajan Chanmugam, popularly known as Rajan, who had won the hearts and minds of his family, friends and colleagues in many walks of life, is sadly missed today. He associated with a broad group of intellectuals in international life, but never lost his common touch. Although he parted from us on April 4, 2016, comforted by kind words and hymns by his loving family and friends, memories of what he has accomplished will remain with us for a long time to come.
Rajan was born on June 26, 1927, in Colombo, to his proud parents, Walter Raju and Rosalind Rasu (Thuraiappa) Chanmugam. Following his schooling at Royal College, Colombo, he entered the University of Ceylon and graduated in 1948. Shortly thereafter, Rajan won a scholarship to Downing College, Cambridge, and obtained a PhD in Chemistry in 1952. Soon after his PhD, his first call of duty was at the University of Ceylon, where he lectured for about two years.
Rajan’s international career began with an appointment as a Process Technologist at Shell Oil in The Netherlands from 1955 to 1957, following a post-doctoral degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1955. In 1957, he moved to Princeton University and taught in the School of Engineering from 1957 to 1960. After this short spell, he embarked upon the longest segment of his career of 30 years at the World Bank Group, working initially as an Engineer in the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and later as a Senior Engineer in the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). He was one of the first Sri Lankans to work at the World Bank.
The contributions to the World Bank’s work made by Rajan were greatly valued. Besides his normal duties, he also provided advice to member countries on industrial development. One such lecture was on the “Role of the International Finance Corporation in Promoting Industrial Development in Developing countries” delivered in 1964. Another article, at a technical level, he co-authored was entitled “Adaptive Optimization of Continuous Processes”. He also provided valuable mentorship to his colleagues. Since his retirement in 1991, he worked as a Consultant to the World Bank. His professional life included membership of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (USA), and of the Institute of Chemical Engineers (United Kingdom).
I came to know Rajan, on joining the World Bank in 1981, initially as an Economist, and later as a Senior Economist. His home was very close to ours in West Bethesda, Maryland. We socialized with the Chanmugams in our Sri Lankan get-togethers and at functions organized by the Sri Lankan Embassy.
One of Rajan’s major contributions related to the formation of the Sri Lanka Association of Washington DC. He was the founding President of the Association, and he presided over its inaugural meeting held in 1975. Jim Nanayakkara succeeded him as President. It was much later in 2001, that I was elected President of the Association. Rajan continued his involvement with the Association, and we travelled together to meetings for discussions on subsequent constitutional reforms.
Looking back, meeting Rajan did not come to me as a surprise, as I had known the Chanmugams for quite some time. Ganesh Chanmugam was a classmate of mine at the University of Ceylon, who did a four-year course for a Special Degree in Mathematics from 1957 to 1961, and graduated with First Class Honours in 1961. I regard him as the most exemplary student I ever met, and kept in touch with him on his visits from abroad during his higher studies. I met Rajan’s brother Chandi Chanmugam in 1977. At that time he was the Deputy Secretary to the Treasury, who along with Dr. W.M. Tilakaratna were my supervisors at the Ministry of Finance and Planning. Both of them provided an exemplary service in guiding Sri Lanka’s investment programme.
This account on Rajan will be incomplete without a brief mention about my close association with him on scientific discussions. Both of us had our initial training in the physical sciences, and we kept abreast of developments in modern physics, mainly through the exchange of books. One such book was on the life and times of Paul Dirac, who proposed the existence of positive electrons (later called positrons) – which paved the way for the introduction of PET scan machines. Another book was entitled “Brilliant Blunders: From Darwin to Einstein”, which recounts the introduction of the cosmological constant, to ensure a static universe. When Einstein learnt of the empirical evidence that the universe is expanding, he called the introduction of the cosmological constant the “greatest blunder” of his life, but later development showed that it was a very valuable contribution to cosmology. We also discussed at great length, concepts of the theory in quantum entanglement.
Rajan is survived by his wife, June – who used to greet us very warmly during our visits – and his children, Teruni Rosengren, Tamara and Arjun Chanmugam and stepdaughter Sonali Kumarakulasinghe. He is also survived by brothers Chandirapal and Devandran, sister, Vidhya Jayaratnam, and first wife, Malathi.
Dr. Hilarian Codippily
Suranganie Ameresekere
With never a harsh word for anyone she was truly ‘nice’
I first came to know Suranganie Ameresekere, known to her friends and colleagues as Sura, in 1977 when I worked at The American Centre in Kandy and she at the US-Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission known those days as the United States Educational Foundation in Sri Lanka. She was Secretary to the then Executive Director of the Fulbright Commission, the late Bogoda Premaratne. Little did I know at that time that 12 years later, I would succeed the much respected and highly regarded Bogoda Premaratne and that Sura and I would become colleagues!
I had had only intermittent contact with Sura in those 12 intervening years, and we knew each other only in a formal sense. We were acquaintances. It was after we became colleagues that I truly got to know Sura for who she actually was. She was truly a wonderful human being. A caring wife, mother, grandmother and friend to those who were fortunate enough to get to know her. She was always doing something for somebody else. I consider it my good fortune and blessing to have had her friendship and unwavering support — both professional and personal — for over a quarter century.
I recall the early years when I was new at the Fulbright Commission and was trying to find my feet there. I was afraid that I may not have what it takes to fill such large shoes as those of my illustrious predecessor, the venerable Bogoda Premaratne. He had served as the Commissioner of Examinations, Director of Education, Principal of Royal College and won other such glittering prizes prior to joining the Fulbright Commission to give the institution, by his eminence, even greater stature than it had enjoyed before. Mr. Premaratne was a man of few words and among the handful he shared with me while handing the baton over to me was to say that I would have in Sura a fine and reliable colleague. And indeed Sura was all that Mr.Premaratne noted and more.
The thing I remember most about Sura was her gentleness, warmth, child-like trust in people and her enormous kindness to all. To the best of my knowledge, Sura did not know that human guile or shrewdness ever existed. Or if she knew they existed, they did not matter to her. She trusted all those who she came in contact with and treated them all with unfailing kindness. The harshest thing she said about anybody when she had been pushed to the extreme was, “he is very naughty, no?”
She was certainly not all sugar and spice. She could be mischievous and much fun on those occasions she decided to let her hair down. She was, however, never ever malicious. Nice is the word that comes readily to mind when trying to describe Sura as a person.
She was a tower of strength to me at all times. Aside from the many official chores I burdened her with which she cheerfully carried out, I recall Sura being of help to me on the personal front as well. She helped to take care of our daughter, Lara, whenever I was otherwise occupied on the work front and when my wife Lilani was not free of official commitments, by taking her to school and bringing her back safely as our office was conveniently located on Flower Road. From the time she met Lara and until her passing, Sura never ever forgot to wish Lara on her birthday and give her a gift.
On the work front, she was most helpful to me and to all her colleagues. She used to frequently drop in at the office even after retirement to see us whenever she could. She continued to help us administer such exams as TOEFL, SAT and GRE until her illness forced her to keep away.
Sura and her husband Henry were committed Christians and they used to devote much of their spare time to church activities. They were at all times generous and kind hosts. This world of ours is poorer for not having amongst us such a kind and simple human being as Sura. My family and I will always remember her as one of the nicest persons we have known. I like to end this tribute to my former colleague and friend with a few words on life, love and death that my mother shared with me many moons ago which I find as relevant today as when I first heard them:
Life is eternal, love is immortal and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight.
Tissa Jayatilaka