Dr. A. L. Mudaliar addresses the audience at the inauguration of Vanavani School, 1963
Administrators , Institute Events , Inaugurations
Vanavani School was established on the IIT Madras campus in 1963. It was opened by Dr. A. L. Mudaliar (Chairman, Board of Governors) on 8 July 1963. Father Murphy’s article in the Annual Number of 1965-1966 titled ‘The Vanavani Primary School’, explains that the school was given its name by Director Prof. B. Sengupto. Father Murphy notes that the name combines ‘knowledge’ with ‘goddess of the forest’.
On the dais from left, Mrs. Jebamalai Peter (first Principal of Vanavani School), Prof. B. Sengupto (Director of IIT Madras), Dr. A. L. Mudaliar (Chairman of the Board of Governors of IIT Madras) and Father Murphy (Professor of English, Loyola College). Mr. T. N. Venkataraman (Chief Security Officer) is seen in a white uniform. Mrs. Peter served as Principal of Vanavani School three times over three decades. Her first tenure was from 1963 to 1978, her second from 1981 to 1987 and her third from 1988 to 1989. Since the year 2016, the “Mrs. J. Peter Endowment Prize” is awarded to a Standard XII Science or Commerce Stream student scoring the highest marks in English in the Board Exams.
An identical photograph can be found in the Gourishankar Collection in Album 0208 under the ID: 001/0208/IMG_0210
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