Thiagarajar College

Thiagarajar College, founded on 7th July 1949, was formally inaugurated on 12th October 1949 by His Excellency, the King of Bhavnagar, the then Governor of Madras State. At the inaugural function, the founder, Karumuttu Thiagarajan Chettiar, described this institution as a "small and humble endeavour in education". The college, now has an impressive history covering 65 epoch-making years. From its inception, Thiagarajar College has been one of the premier institutions in Madurai. It started with only three undergraduate courses, but now has grown in stature and offers 19 UG, 13 PG and 9 M.Phil. programmes, in addition to 11 Diploma and 11 Certificate Courses. The college is a private, aided, co-educational institution affiliated to Madurai Kamaraj University. It is meticulously managed by the Kalaithanthai Karumuttu Thiagarajan Chettiar Memorial Trust. The motto of the college is which means "Wisdom and love embody the divine?. The college has come a very long way from the time of its inception, with the significant contribution of the founder, the great philanthropist Karumuttu Thiagarajan Chettiar, and the committed service and support of the members of his family, the late Dr. Mrs. Radha Thiagarajan (then Emeritus President), Mr. Karumuttu T. Kannan (President) and Dr. Mrs. Uma Kannan (Secretary and Vice President). As well as academic excellence and character development, the focus of the college is to prepare students for the challenges of the highly competitive job market by ensuring that they are employable. It aims at providing quality education, fostering excellence in research and promoting academic inquiry. The college has been recognized as a Research Centre of Excellence since 1978 and was upgraded as an autonomous institution in 1987. It was first accredited Five Stars by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) in 2001 and was re-accredited ?A? Grade in 2007 and again re-accredited ?A? Grade in the third cycle by NAAC in January 2013. The college has completed 27 years as an autonomous institution. The college offers 11 UG, 8 PG, and 4 M.Phil. courses under the aided stream, and 8 UG, 5 PG, 5 M.Phil. 12 Certificate and 11 Diploma Courses in the self-finance stream. (This includes the career oriented programmes offered by 6 departments.) The 8 departments which have been upgraded as Research Centres offer Ph.D. programmes. The curriculum endeavours to integrate the acquisition of knowledge and career skills in the student community. The teaching-learning systems have been further strengthened by nurturing a creative environment so as to inspire out-of-the-box thinking and innovative solutions. The learning process has been made more student-friendly through modern teaching aids and ICT facilities, and accentuated with the students? participation in project work, on-the-job training, internship, and e-learning. Moreover, in keeping with its aim of imparting a well-rounded education, the college also plays an active role in creating an awareness of our multidimensional heritage and culture. Thiagarajar College provides an environment conducive for carrying out research projects, and faculty members are encouraged to submit research proposals for grants from various funding agencies like the UGC, DST, CSIR, DRDO, MoEF, MHRD, TNSCST, DBT, etc. The college has been a member of the UGC-N-LIST (National Library and Information Services Infrastructure for Scholarly Content) facility from the year 2010. The faculty and research scholars utilize these facilities for their research. Our college is a part of the cluster colleges selected by the CII (Confederation of Indian Industry, New Delhi) for sharing of faculty and technical resources. Interdisciplinary research is another healthy activity on the campus where research guidance and publication take place between departments of related fields. The college is associated with organizations like the University of Oslo, Norway, Tokyo University, Serdki, Japan, IICT, Hyderabad, AIRC, Chennai, ICWAI, Calcutta, and CECRI, Karaikudi, for research, and PARD, Madurai, AKASH, Madurai, Rotary International, USA, and Puliankulam Village for extension activities. The Department of Economics has been recognized by the Malcom and Elizabeth Adiseshiah Trust, Department of Econometrics, University of Madras for awarding research grant to Ph.D., scholars. The Department of Chemistry offers consultancy services in FTIR, UV and water analysis, as well as in Molecular Modelling to the students, teachers, researchers and industries in South India. All the students are expected to serve the community by enrolling themselves in the Physical Education programme, NCC (Army, Navy), or NSS (for participation in community service). The cultural programmes of the Fine Arts Club provide an opportunity for the students to hone their skills in the performing arts. The Training and Placement Cell along with the Career Guidance Cell and the Language Lab focus on personality development and ensure that all the students receive soft skills training. The Women?s Studies Centre, Rotract Club, Youth Red Cross Society, Nature Club, Girls? Counselling Cell, Blood Donors Club and First Aid Cell are the various clubs functioning to ensure the all-round development of our students.