Department of Mathematics

The Department of Mathematics was established in 1923. Only two faculty namely Prof. P. Dhanam, (later to become a Jesuit and return to the Department) and Prof. S. Mahadeva Iyer worked in the Department. In 1933, Prof. A. Santiago joined the Department. At the age of 35, Prof. Mahadeva Iyer passed away and his place was taken by Prof. P. Sudalaimuthu, an old student of St. Xavier's College. Prof. S. Mudiappan, another old student also joined the Department in 1946.

Prof. A. Santiago was the first layman to occupy the position of HOD. The number of students increased with the introduction of P.U.C. in 1956, and so also the intake of staff. When Prof. Santiago retired, Prof. Sudalaimuthu was promoted in his place. However, due to his ill health, he voluntarily retired in 1969 and Prof. John Louis filled the vacancy. Prof. Maria Arul Inbaraj was appointed as lecturer in 1968. In 1970, post graduate course in Mathematics was started. In 1986, M.Phil in Mathematics was started. Dr.K. Chandrasekara Rao was appointed as Head of the PG Department. He was succeeded by Prof. John Louis. Rev. Fr. A. Michael S.J. served the Department for a couple of years. Rev. Fr. S.M. Felix S.J. also taught Mathematics for nine years. Prof.John Louis retired with Ph.D Degree in 1989. He was succeeded by Prof. Maria Arul Inbaraj M.Sc., M.Phil, as the Head. He retired in 2003.

He was succeeded by Prof. Liberty V.Rayan as Head. The Department was upgraded as a Research centre in 2003. Prof. Liberty V.Rayan retired in May 2008. He was succeeded by Dr.A.P. Santhakumaran in June 2008. Dr. A.P. Santhakumaran retired in May 2012 and he was succeeded by Dr. S. Athisayanathan in June 2012. Dr. S. Athisayanathan shouldered the responsibility of Head of the Department for five years from June 2012 to May 2017. From June 2017 to May 2022, Dr. S. Arul Raj was HOD and completed his term as HOD at the end of the academic year 2021-22. In the academic year 2022-23, Dr. A. Lourdusamy shouldered the responsibility of HOD. Dr. A. Lourdusamy retired in May 2023. Dr. Y. Therese Sunitha Mary was appointed as the Head of the Department from June 2023.

In June 2012, B.Sc. Mathematics in shift II was started. Dr. A. Anto Kinsley was the Coordinator of Shift II from June 2012 to May 2015 and Rev. Dr. Arul Ravi was the Coordinator of shift II till May 2016. Rev. Dr. A.Antonysamy S.J. was the Coordinator of shift II from June 2016 to May 2019. M.Sc. Mathematics in shift II was started in June 2017. Dr. J.M. Prabhakar was the Coordinator of shift II from June 2019 to May 2020. Dr.S. Sethu Ramalingam has been the Co-ordinator of shift II since 2020.

A team of 17 well qualified and dedicated faculty members are working in our Department. The staff members of the Department have served as members of Board of Studies for Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli and the affiliated Colleges. They also served as members of organizing committee of various Conferences of International and National level. Our faculty members also served as Reviewers of reputed Journals and members of Editorial Board of various Research Journals. The good work of the Department has been recognised by DBT and DST through the award of DBT- STAR and DST-FIST funding. Our alumni are spread far and wide around the globe. Some of them are eminent scientists, researchers and entrepreneurs in India and abroad. Some others are delivering yeomen service for the upliftment of the poor and downtrodden the world over.

Research Activities:

The contributions of the Department in research is enormous. The Research Department is actively engaged in research and producing Ph.Ds. The Department has a passion for creating research articles with new results and an intense desire for innovation through research collaboration. More than 375 research articles are published by our faculty during the years 2012-2023. Most of the articles are published by Web of Science, Scopus and UGC Care journals with impact factor. Our Department has produced 36 Ph.Ds since 2003 and 12 scholars are doing Ph.D under the guidance of our faculty members. There are 4 Research Supervisors and the research areas cover Algebra, Analysis, Graph Theory and Fuzzy Theory.

Association Activities:

The Department provides a platform for students to indulge in Mathematics-related activities at both intra-collegiate and intercollegiate levels through its Association activities. Mathematics Association arranges a series of lectures every year with experienced academicians outside class hours for the benefit of students. MATH FEST is conducted once in a year by the Department of Mathematics. Every year the Department of Mathematics has been conducting and organizing State level PG Quiz competitions for students of our College as well as to the students of various other Colleges over the past 40 years and it has been one of the successful and effective practices which deserve special recognition.

The Department is actively engaged in organizing Conferences, Seminars, Workshops and Endowment Lectures every year which paves way for the Department to host a good number of renowned Mathematicians in various fields of Mathematics and thereby hone the mathematical skills of the students. The Department conducts specialized coaching classes for JAM, SET/NET and GATE examinations for the undergraduate and postgraduate students. The Department also offers remedial classes for the slow learners. It is remarkable to note that the Department has been conducting International/ National Conferences every year since 2005.

Department - Student Activities:

Many of our students have participated in Inter-Collegiate competitions in academics and won overall championships and various prizes with the constant encouragement of our staff members. These activities have helped the students to go for higher studies abroad. Some of our students have attended the summer training programme conducted by Mathematics Training and Talent Search Programme [MTTS]. A good number of students in the Department has been placed in reputed companies through campus recruitment. Special programmes are conducted to improve their academic performance as well as to motivate and encourage students to be aware of the job opportunities available and to know about the higher studies for their future. Our strength is a reflection of our students’ skills. The Department also encourages the students to participate in extra-curricular and co-curricular activities.

The list of staff who rendered yeomen service and those who are working now in the Department is given below: