CHENNAI: Former vice-Chancellor of Anna University, V C Kulandaiswamy (87), who wrote several books on higher education and Tamil literature, passed away on Saturday.
Kulandaiswamy was vice-chancellor of Anna University for three terms during 1981-1990. Born in an agricultural family in a small village, Vangalampalayam in Karur district, he obtained his M.Tech. degree at IIT Kharagpur and his PhD in hydrology and water resources from the University of Illinois under a USAID fellowship.
He was vice-chairman of Enperaayam, one of the governing bodies of the Central Classical Tamil Institute.
Kulandaiswamy was a member of the UNESCO planning group (1978) for the preparation of the second six-year plan (1981–86) of the International Hydraulic Programme (IHP).
He wrote more than 60 research reports and papers in hydrology. He also authored six volumes of poems and seven of essays which earned him the Thiruvalluvar Award from the Tamil Nadu government in 1999. He received the Padma Bhushan in 2002 and the Padma Shri in1992.