Prof Vaidyeswaran Rajaraman (1933-2025): Pioneer in computer education, he defined India’s digital future

Born in Erode in Tamil Nadu in 1933, Rajaraman graduated in physics from the St Stephens College in Delhi in 1952 and obtained a diploma in electrical communication engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru three years later. He did his PhD at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he also taught for some time, before joining IIT Kanpur as an assistant professor in 1962.

It is here that he, along with a few associates, started the first academic course in computer science at the MTech level. He was also instrumental in initiating a doctoral programme and later in 1978, a BTech in computer science.

Rajaraman later shifted to the Indian Institute of Science where he oversaw the development of low-cost parallel computers and a supercomputing facility.

A Bhatnagar Prize winner, Rajaraman was also honoured with a Padma Bhushan in 1998, besides several other awards. He wrote more than 20 textbooks on computer science which are still being taught in colleges and universities across the country.