History of the Department
The department of Chemistry was established in 1951 and it initially offered Chemistry as an intermediate course. S.Ramachandran was the first head of the department. Due to the noble efforts of the then founder Secretary Shri. A. P. C. Veerabahu, Principal Shri. A. Srinivasa Raghavan and K. S. Narayanan, B.Sc. in Chemistry was started in 1957.
M.Sc. Chemistry was started in 1970. Our department is the first to offer M.Sc. Chemistry in the districts of Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari. Dr. K. Karunakaran, the first Head of the Department, and Dr.C.Srinivasan, Reader in Chemistry (Professor Emeritus (Rtd.), MKU), were responsible for giving the initial impetus to the Department. Our PG students secure university ranks every year and many of them are placed globally. Our alumni are working as scientists in national institutions like CSIR, DST, ISRO, and many reputed industries and universities.
The department started M.Sc. Chemistry as an unaided course in 1987. M.Phil. and Ph.D. programmes started in 1987. The department strives hard to explore contemporary areas of Chemistry like Materials Chemistry and Nanochemistry.
“M.Sc. Nanoscience”, funded by UGC started in 2012 with noble efforts of the Secretary of V. O. Chidambaram College Thiru A.P.C.V. Chockalingam, Principal Dr. C. Veerabahu, the former Principal-in-Charge Prof. S. Maragathasundaram, then Head of the Department Prof. M. Balamurugesan, and the course coordinator Dr. C. Vedhi.
Many eminent professors like Mr. K. S. Narayanan, Mr. T. S. Krishnan, Dr. R.P. Malim Maniraj, Mr. V. Muthukrishnan and Mr. K. Sankararaman, Mr. M. Ramachandran served the department. Mr. T. Rajagopalan, Mr. R. Ayam Perumal, Dr. A.Balasubramanian, Dr. E. Balasivasubramanian, Dr. R.F.N. Ashok, Dr. S. Kumareson, Mr. S. Maragathasundaram joined the department in the 70s and Mr. M. Balamurugesan and Dr. T. Balasubramanian joined the department in the early 80s. Mr. T. Eswara Yuvaraj joined the department in 1999 and then migrated to New College, Chennai. Dr. A. Mathavan and Dr. T. Peter Amaladhas joined in June 2000 and Dr. J. Sidharthan in January 2001. Dr.R.R.Muthuchudarkodi joined our department on migration from National College, Trichy in July 2005. Dr. Jessica Fernando and Dr. S. Muthumariappan joined in February 2007. Dr. C. Vedhi, Dr. S. Priya @ Velammal and Dr. R. Baby Suneetha joined in December 2007. Dr. P. Rajakani joined in January 2008. Dr. S. Sheeba Thavamani and Dr. K. M. Ponvel joined in August 2017. Dr. A. Muthulakshmi and Dr. D. Princess Jeba joined the department in December 2022.
As per the directions of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, the department follows Choice Based Credit System [CBCS] with continuous assessment in 2008. The department has a DST–FIST funded laboratory and a DST fast track scheme laboratory. "Chemlet" - A Chemistry Magazine is brought out every quarter by the students with the contribution by alumni since 2011.
The department has completed five decades of service in teaching and research. This was commemorated as the golden jubilee year in 2022 through various events organized by the 50th batch of PG students.