In Memoriam Prof. Vaidyeswaran Rajaraman
Prof. Vaidyeswaran Rajaraman
In Memoriam Prof. Vaidyeswaran Rajaraman (8 September 1933 – 8 November 2025) was an Indian computer scientist, academic and author known for his pioneering efforts in the field of Computer Science Education in India. He has earned his masters degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Upon returning to India, he joined the Electrical Engineering department at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur in 1962. He was instrumental in initiating the M.Tech. program in Computer Science at IIT Kanpur (which was the first time this degree was offered in India). He is known to establish the first computer science academic program in India. He served as a Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur between 1963–1982. He later moved to Indian Institute of Science Bangalore where he developed low-cost parallel computers. He served as the Professor and Chairman of the Supercomputer Education and Research Centre (SERC) at IISc Bangalore. Thereafter, he served as a Professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) till 2001. He also chaired the committee which helped establish the Centre for the Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) to design and develop supercomputers in India. He has authored over 40 text books, including popular books on computer programming in C and Fortran languages. He is widely considered as the father of computer science education in India. Prof. Rajaraman received the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in 1976 for his contributions in optimizing the use of decision tables and his pioneering work in computer science. He was also honored with the Padma Bhushan in 1998, among several other accolades. The Department of Computer Science and Engineering and the Department of Electrical Engineering at IIT Kanpur deeply mourns the passing away of an extraordinary intellectual.
- Reminiscences:
Amey Karkare(BT/CSE/1998)
I write this with deep sadness at the passing of Prof. Rajaraman, a true pioneer of computer science education in India and one of the earliest builders of IIT Kanpur’s academic legacy. As an IIT Kanpur CSE BTech student and now a faculty in the same department, I feel a profound sense of gratitude for his vision in initiating one of the first formal Computer Science programmes in the country and for shaping the very discipline that now defines our education and careers.
Even though I never had the privilege of being his direct student, every course outline, lab tradition, and academic standard in our department carries a part of his immense contribution. His work in establishing computer science as an academic field in India, his leadership at IIT Kanpur and later at IISc, and his many influential textbooks have guided generations of teachers and students alike. It is because of pathbreakers like him that students like me can dream, learn, and innovate in this field today.
I convey my heartfelt condolences to his family, colleagues, and countless students whose lives he touched. May his soul rest in peace, and may we honour his memory by upholding the standards of excellence and integrity that he exemplified throughout his life.