Professor Vaidyeswaran Rajaraman, widely regarded as the “Pitamaha” of computer science education in India, passed away due to age-related ailments at his Tatanagar residence here on Saturday, at the age of 92. The students he taught included Faqir Chand Kohli, the first CEO of TCS, and the Infosys founder N. R. Narayana Murthy.
His efforts were instrumental in establishing the first formal academic programme in computer science in 1965 at IIT Kanpur. Rajaraman laid the foundation for the nation’s technological revolution.
A visionary educator, researcher, and pioneer, Prof. Vaidyeswaran Rajaraman will always be remembered as one of the foremost architects of computer science education in India.
— IIT Kanpur (@IITKanpur) November 8, 2025
Joining IIT Kanpur in 1963 as a faculty member in the Department of Electrical Engineering, he played a… pic.twitter.com/MPmIuMMPD4
Born in the year 1933, Professor Rajaraman dedicated more than six decades to shaping India’s tech landscape.
He was the Chairman of the Supercomputer Education and Research Centre (SERC) at IISc from 1982 to 1994. Prof. Rajaraman built India’s supercomputing and parallel computing capabilities, empowering research institutions with advanced computation resources.
His profound vision led to the creation of the Master of Computer Applications programme for science and commerce graduates, addressing critical human resource needs in the emerging IT industry. In the year 1987, while chairing a committee set up by the Science Advisory Council, he contributed to the development of indigenous supercomputers.
As a member of Karnataka’s Technical Advisory Panel (1985–2014), he guided landmark initiatives, including the Bhoomi project for land registration and the Kaveri project for property registration, pioneering digital governance in India.
He received the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in 1976 and was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 1998.
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