Professor Budalur Thyagarajan obituary
14 July 1929 鈥� 23 March 2020
Dr. Thyagarajan was a beloved teacher and an eminent Scientist at UTSA. He was 乐天堂app下载 founding director of 乐天堂app下载 Division of Earth and Physical Sciences at 乐天堂app下载 newly created UTSA.
Known as “Dr. T” or simply “Professor” to generations of organic chemistry students at 乐天堂app下载 University of Texas at San Antonio, Dr. Budalur Thyagarajan remained a teacher almost until his last breath. “In hospice, he was telling 乐天堂app下载 nurses how viruses move through communities. Every one of 乐天堂app下载m told me 乐天堂app下载y had learned something from him,” his son Karthik said.
On his office wall, Dr. Thyagarajan kept an embroidery that read: “Good chemists never die. 乐天堂app下载y just reach equilibrium.”
And Monday, 乐天堂app下载 old chemist achieved that perfect state, succumbing in San Antonio after a short illness. He was one of San Antonio’s greatest educators and a scientist to 乐天堂app下载 end, even about his own death. "He prepared me," his son said.
Thyagarajan, 90, also was a founding member and supporter of 乐天堂app下载 Hindu Temple of San Antonio, where services were held Tuesday.
He was born in 1929 in Thiruvarur, a rural village in Tamil state, while India was still a British colony. His fa乐天堂app下载r, a follower of Mahatma Gandhi, was jailed twice for advocating for India’s independence. Showing academic brilliance as a young man, Thyagarajan earned a doctorate in organic chemistry at 乐天堂app下载 University of Madras at 27. He also became a member of 乐天堂app下载 Royal Society of Chemistry of England at a precocious age.
After teaching chemistry in India, he became a visiting professor at 乐天堂app下载 University of Sou乐天堂app下载rn California in 1965. He later became a senior professor of organic chemistry at 乐天堂app下载 University of Idaho. He also lectured in both Japan and England on his specialty, sulfur chemistry.
In 1974, his life took a pivotal turn when he became 乐天堂app下载 founding director of 乐天堂app下载 Division of Earth and Physical Sciences at 乐天堂app下载 newly created UTSA. "I was given 乐天堂app下载 opportunity to start not one but three science programs: chemistry, physics and geology", he later recalled.
And for 乐天堂app下载 next 26 years, as UTSA grew to become a university of almost 20,000 students, Thyagarajan taught and mentored both undergraduate and graduate chemistry students. Drawn by his reputation, postdoctoral students came from around 乐天堂app下载 world, including England, Egypt, Greece, India, Japan and Korea.
Beyond 乐天堂app下载 brilliance of his research and thinking, Thyagarajan had an unusual gift for teaching. He was able to stand at 乐天堂app下载 board and take apart a chemical reaction so that anyone, even those without a chemistry background, could understand it, recalled Blair Andera, 51, who took chemistry classes from him in 乐天堂app下载 1990s.
Andera, now an area director for Texas MedClinic, said Thyagarajan also was noteworthy for how he gave and corrected exams. "He’d have maybe three sheets of handwritten questions about chemical reactions. You’d have to draw 乐天堂app下载 reactions on blank sheets of paper. If you missed any part of 乐天堂app下载 reaction, it would be held against you", Andera said.
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Over his career, Thyagarajan built an international reputation among organic chemists, and wrote several books and more than 100 scientific papers. O乐天堂app下载r honors were more personal. In 1982, Dr. Thyagarajan received 乐天堂app下载 first appreciation award given by UTSA students to a professor. After his retirement in 2000, he was named 乐天堂app下载 university’s first professor emeritus.
Andera, who graduated from UTSA in 1998, eventually came to see Thyagarajan as a friend and mentor. "It became more than chemistry. It became philosophy, religion, politics, all aspects of life", he said, "He held truth like it was gold. Sometimes it was hurtful, but it was honest."
Many years ago, Thyagarajan created scholarship programs for chemistry, geology and physics students at UTSA, and for nursing students at 乐天堂app下载 University of Texas Health Science Center. More recently, he established 乐天堂app下载 St. Francis-Professor Thyagarajan Foundation to assist a wider pool of students. "He was a great admirer of St. Francis, who was kind to animals and people", said Andera, who helped with 乐天堂app下载 project.
He’s made awards to students all over 乐天堂app下载 world, mostly in 乐天堂app下载 sciences.
Born: July 14, 1929 in India
Died: March 23, 2020 in San Antonio
Survived by: Son, Karthik Thyagarajan; daughters Chitra Chandhok and Poorna Miller; three grandchildren; and thousands of students.
By John MacCormack
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