Former Vice-Chancellor of Anna University and former Chairman of IIT-Kanpur, M Anandakrishnan succumbed to Covid-19 on Saturday morning.
A recipient of Padma Shri award Anandakrishnan, 93, passed away at a private hospital here. A renowned educationist, soft spoken Anandakrishnan played a key role in most of the educational reforms in Tamil Nadu.
In 2017 he headed the Tamil Nadu Curriculum Revision Committee that revamped the syllabus for Class 1 to 12 under the state board.
Born in Vaniyambadi in Tamil Nadu, Anandakrishnan graduated in Civil Engineering from the College of Engineering, Guindy in 1952 and did his Masters and Doctorate in the US. He returned to India and worked in central government, IIT Kanpur in various positions and moved back to the US on a deputation from the Department of Science and Technology as the Science Counsellor at the Indian Embassy in Washington. Later Anandakrishnan joined the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development. He had worked in the United Nations till 1989 in various capacities.
On his return back to Chennai in 1990 he took up the position of Vice Chancellor of Anna University. He served in that position for two terms. Anandakrishnan was also appointed as the Advisor to the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for Information Technology and E-Governance.
Condoling his death, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in a statement said Anandakrishan was honest and was like a lighthouse for the students. He was instrumental for Tamil Nadu doing away with the common entrance test for engineering course admission and for adopting the single window admission system, Stalin said.
