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 He will be creating a record of sorts when 25 of his students would be getting their Ph.D. - hold your breath - in
chemistry!
That is the kind of active role Reader Kannappan of Presidency College, Chemistry Department, has been playing ever since he
got into the government college.
The reason to recall this feat happened at the farewell party organised by his Ph.D. students - past and present - on his
58th birthday as he is retiring in May 2007.
 Kannappan was at his modest best when he said he was nearing 25 candidates with 21 of them having submitted their thesis so
far and four more yet to go through this process.
"It has been known in our circles, 'Go to Kannappan and get a degree'," he says to the mirth of the audience that comprised
mostly his colleagues and a host of his Ph.D. students.
One interesting inclusion was his professor, T Ramalingam, who taught him chemistry in Pachaiyappa's College during his
under-grad and postgraduation days.
Kannappan comes from a family in a village called Podatur, near Tiruttani. He did his schooling in Podatur and then went on
to do his PUC (it was the system in those days when plus-two had not been introduced) in the Gudiyattam college.
It was a struggle for his mother to put him through his studies in the early years, recalled Kannappan with tears in his
eyes. He did his B.Sc. in the Chennai Pachaiyappa's College and had to take a break before continuing his studies as he
needed monetary support. He worked for sometime in the college and then continued his postgraduation in the same place before
becoming a Demonstrator in the department.
He was then chosen by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission for a similar post in Presidency College.
His big day came when he got his Ph.D. degree in 1981 in physical chemistry, a subject considered very tricky by chemistry
experts themselves.
 "That day I felt as if I had repaid my mother for all her struggles in raising me and putting me through my education,"
recalls Kannappan. He paints a vivid picture of the convocation ceremony: "After getting the degree, I looked at my wife's
face, she was smiling. I looked at my mother's face and there were streams of tears flowing down her cheeks." That was a
remarkable achievement for a unlettered woman, that she was able to make her son a
"sandron".
The real challenge in his life came when he was to quit Pachaiyappa's College as Demonstrator to take up work with the
government Presidency College in Chennai.
As principal of Pachaiyappa's College, Dr S P Shanmuganathan was also the head of the chemistry department. When Kannappan
was to be relieved, Shanmuganathan made a remark that shook him up. "So, you want to become lazy," was what the principal
said when he reluctantly allowed Kannappan to be relieved. The idea was that people usually opted for a government job only
to laze around and have a cushy time.
Though he was too scared then to retort to his principal, Kannappan resolved in his mind to show that he can achieve
something even in a government college.
And he made it! It must be something of a record in Presidency College, or among government colleges, that a chemistry
teacher has been able to produce 25 Ph.Ds!
 His work began in 1984 and his first student got his Ph.D. degree in 1992 and they have kept coming at regular intervals to
do so.
Kannappan says smilingly that he has lost count of the number of M.Phils he has produced so far. And he has submitted more
than 100 papers for publications.
He exhorted his students to produce Ph.Ds themselves instead of being laid back.
25 get 25, as one of the dignitaries on the dais said. That would be a great tribute to a great teacher and guide.
R Chitra
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A record of sorts in Ph.Ds
