Vidya Jyothi The Vidya Jyothi ( si, විද්යාජෝති; ta, வித்யா ஜோதி, translit=Vityā Jōti) is a Sri Lankan national honour awarded "''for outstanding scientific and technological achievements''". It is the highest natio ...
Arumugam Wisvalingam Mailvaganam,
OBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(13 November 1906 – 25 March 1987) was a leading
Ceylon Tamil
Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern Pr ...
physicist, academic and the dean of the Faculty of Science,
University of Ceylon
The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Univer ...
.
Early life and family
Mailvaganam was born on 16 November 1906.
He was the son of Arumugam Wisvalingam from Suthumalai in northern
Ceylon
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
.
[ He was educated at ]Jaffna Central College
Jaffna Central College ( ta, யாழ்ப்பாணம் மத்திய கல்லூரி ''Yāḻppāṇam Mattiya Kallūri'', JCC) is a national school in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Founded in 1816 by British Methodist missionaries, it ...
, St. Benedict's College, Colombo
St. Benedict's College ( Sinhala: සාන්ත බෙනඩික් විදුහල, Tamil: புனித ஆசீர்வாதப்பர் கல்லூரி) is a Catholic school located in the Kotahena area of Colombo, Sri ...
and Royal College, Colombo
Royal College, Colombo is a selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton in Janua ...
.[ After school he joined ]Ceylon University College
Ceylon University College was a public university college in Ceylon. Established in 1921, it was Ceylon's first attempt at university education. The college didn't award degrees under its own name but prepared students to sit the University of Lo ...
, graduating in 1923 with first class BSc
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
honours degree in science. He then joined Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...
in 1924, obtaining an MA honours degree in Natural Science Tripos
The Natural Sciences Tripos (NST) is the framework within which most of the science at the University of Cambridge is taught. The tripos includes a wide range of Natural Sciences from physics, astronomy, and geoscience, to chemistry and biology, w ...
in 1928.[ He received a ]PhD PHD or PhD may refer to:
* Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification
Entertainment
* '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series
* ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic
* Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group
** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...
from Cambridge in 1938.[
Mailvaganam had a son, Gajanandan Nandakumar.][ Mailvaganam was a devout Hindu and worshipped at the temple in ]Bambalapitiya
Bambalapitiya is a southern coastal neighbourhood of Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The area also known as Colombo 4, spans about along Galle Road. The western boundary of the suburb is the Indian Ocean and it is bordered to the east by Havelock Town, t ...
.
Career
After university Mailvaganam joined the Ceylon University College as a lecturer in physics in 1932.[ He became a professor of physics in 1939 and served Dean of the Faculty of Science, ]University of Ceylon
The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Univer ...
between 1948 and 1954.[ He acted as ]vice chancellor
A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system.
In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor is ...
on a number of occasions when Nicholas Attygalle
Sir Nicholas Attygalle (14 July 1894 – 27 March 1970) was a Ceylonese academic, surgeon and a Senator. He was the President of the Senate of Ceylon from 1953 to 1960 and the first Ceylonese Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ceylon, where h ...
was vice chancellor.[ He retired in 1966.][
In the 1949 Birthday Honours Mailvaganam was made an ]Officer of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
. He received the Vidya Jyothi The Vidya Jyothi ( si, විද්යාජෝති; ta, வித்யா ஜோதி, translit=Vityā Jōti) is a Sri Lankan national honour awarded "''for outstanding scientific and technological achievements''". It is the highest natio ...
honour
Honour (British English) or honor (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of socia ...
in 1985.[
Mailvaganam was president of the Ceylon Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the University Grants Commission and Board of Governors of the Institute of Fundamental Studies.][ He received honorary DSc degrees from the ]University of Colombo
(Buddhih Sarvatra Bhrajate)
, mottoeng = ''Wisdom Enlightens''
, established =
, endowment = Sri Lankan rupee, LKR 1.461 1,000,000,000 (number), billion (December 1980) and University of Jaffna
The University of Jaffna ( ta, யாழ்ப்பாணப் பல்கலைக்கழகம், translit=Yāḻppāṇap Palkalaikkaḻakam; si, යාපනය විශ්වවිද්යාලය, ''Yāpanaya Viśvavidyālaya''; ...
.[ The University of Colombo has named one of its annual awards after Mailvaganam.]
Death
Mailvaganam died on 25 March 1987.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mailvaganam, A. W.
1906 births
1987 deaths
Academic staff of the University of Ceylon
Academic staff of the Ceylon University College
Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Alumni of Jaffna Central College
Alumni of St. Benedict's College, Colombo
Alumni of Royal College, Colombo
Alumni of the Ceylon University College
Ceylonese Officers of the Order of the British Empire
People from Northern Province, Sri Lanka
People from British Ceylon
Sri Lankan Hindus
Sri Lankan academics
Sri Lankan Tamil people
Sri Lankan physicists
Vidya Jyothi