As a former faculty member of Loyola College, I should have expected it! When I arrive at the Fathers' Quarters at the appointed time to meet Rev. Dr S.Ignacimuthu, S.J, Principal, recently appointed Vice-Chancellor of Bharatiyar University, Coimbatore, I am told he is waiting at the Entomology Research Institute (ERI) in the campus. His first love being Entomology, I should have realised where this "workaholic" research scientist who has turned out 100 research papers and 11 scientific books on Biotechnology as well as Environmental Protection besides 9 general books on "Higher Values in Life and Encounter with God" would be! And so it is at ERI that I met this scientist who has earned world recognition, for an interview.

Born in Sindalacherry, a small remote village near Madurai on September 9, 1948, among a family of six children, he had early education in the village and then at St Mary's School, Madurai. His scholastic achievements have been uniformly brilliant. As a student of Botany in Loyola College during 1969-72, he earned a "Distinction" for the first time in the history of the university and won gold medals in B. Sc as well as in M. Sc later. From 1980 to 1992, when he was teaching at the St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirapalli, he had the unique honour of teaching Biotechnology for the first time in Indian universities from the year 1986 onwards. His text book "Basic Biotechnology", published by Tata McGraw Hill in 1994 for the B. Sc level is prescribed in all Indian universities and has run into five editions. His books on Plant Biotechnology and Environmental Protection for Postgraduate and research levels are a pioneering effort.

He joined the Jesuit order in 1966 to become a priest in 1990. While in Tiruchirapalli, he undertook social work among the poor and the downtrodden such as "narikkuravas" and child labourers. While working there, he did his M. Phil in Botany and Ph. D in Genetics at the University of Delhi. His deep commitment to research was inspired by Dr  C.R. Babu in Delhi and later at Tiruchirapalli by Rev. Fr Mathew, Head of the Department of Botany, who used to work late into the night at the laboratory. Fr  Ignacimuthu has done Post Doctoral research in Molecular Biology in Germany and has visited the U S, Switzerland and Japan as a Visiting Scientist in Entomology, Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering.

The call to administrative duty came in 1992-93, when he was asked to become the Principal of St. Xavier"s College, Palayamkottai, to steer the college through a difficult period. His love of research made him extract an assurance from his superiors that he would be permitted to resume it after a year. He joined the Entomology Research Institute, Loyola College, Chennai, as Assistant Director, invited by Dr T N Ananthakrishnan, a celebrity Director  of the Institute at that time. June 1997 saw him as Principal of Loyola College and in the brief period of three years, the autonomous college has seen much progress under his stewardship. New degree courses - M.C.A, M. Sc (Biotechnology) (permitted for the first time by the University), D.B.A, B.A (Corporate), M.A (Philosophy), B.C.A and B.A (French) have been started along with a large number of innumerable Diploma courses.

Innovative foundation courses on Personality Development, Computer Literacy, World Religions and Social Analysis and many other topics such as Arts for Science students and Science for Arts students are now on offer at the college. Skill oriented programmes such as History combined with Tourism, Economics combined with Banking, etc. are taught. The full potential of autonomy in education is sought to be realised. The response from the staff and students has been heartening. Before he can bask in his achievements, he has been picked to shoulder a bigger responsibility. That of Vice-Chancellor of Bharatiyar University. He believes, as always, that the loving hands of God will guide him in his new assignment.

Asked for a vision statement on Bharatiyar University, he said he would like to make it a Harvard and MIT of South India, introducing new courses, restructuring existing ones, setting up Industry-Institution collaboration, attending to the social needs of the people around including tribals and educating people about ecological protection. Apart from looking at models from the advanced technology of the West, he would also look around for inspiration from neighbouring Singapore, Japan and China. A grain of cooked rice is enough to judge a pot of it, says a Tamil proverb. The new VC has more than one grain to show from his pot of achievements.