Who is Prof Vaidyeswaran Rajaraman, the Father of Indian Computer Science Education and the Revolutionary Who Made IT Dream Accessible to Indian Students?

IN 1963, when India got its first high-end digital computer from IBM it faced a lot of logistical challenges . It was flown in on a chartered plane to a military base in Kanpur as commercial airports couldn’t handle it. Due to the enormous size, it was transported to IIT Kanpur via bullock cart with inflated tires to reduce vibrations on Indian roads. And after its arrival, it was noticed that IITK lab doors weren’t big enough to have the computer inside. Thus, the western lab walls were broken down just to have that bulky computer in the premises. But why would someone go to such lengths just to have a machine in a country which has little to no framework to teach its functioning?

The answer is a man’s resolve to transform computer learning in the country, a visionary known as Professor Vaidyeswaran Rajaraman.

At a time, when computer science wasn’t taught in India and aspirational tech scholars had to travel abroad for higher education, Rajaraman’s first giant leap laid the foundation of the IT field making it accessible to students of all backgrounds.

In 1965, he first introduced the B.Sc. in Computer Science program in IIT Kanpur, the first CS course offered in an Indian institution. The very first class of that program only consisted of 20 students, including one of the most influential figures in tech, Narayana Murthy, who went on to co-found Infosys.

While Indian tech workers continue to leave their marks all over the world, it will be amiss to not remember V. Rajaraman and his massive contribution in making this dream accessible to Indian youth. That is why he is also known as the father of Computer Science education in India.

Vaidyeswaran Rajaraman was born on September 8, 1933, in the Madras Presidency of then British India (now Tamil Nadu). He was awarded a scholarship by the Delhi University after passing the All India Scholarship Entrance Examination (AISEE) in 1949 and graduated with B.Sc. in Physics (hons) in 1952 from the St. Stephens College. He then went on to complete his Diploma from IISc Bangalore in Electrical Communication Engineering in 1955. With his zeal to learn, Rajaraman landed another scholarship for the M.Sc. in Computer Science program in Massachusetts Institute of Technology and then completed his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

After completing his higher education, he returned to India, bringing computer science education to the masses. He worked as a professor in IIT Kanpur introducing B.Sc. and MTech courses in CS. Later he went on to teach at IISc Bangalore and Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research till 2001. Due to his vision, he was also given the seat of the chairman of the Supercomputer Education and Research Centre (SERC) at IISc from 1982 to 1994, spearheading the innovation of India’s development in advanced computing.

While he wasn’t directly involved in the creation of India’s first supercomputer, PARAM 8000, V. Rajaraman chaired the government committee who advised the creation of Centre for the Development of Advance Computing (C-DAC) that led to innovation of indigenous supercomputers. He is also credited for making the first Masters in Computer Applications (MCA) program accessible to science and commerce graduates in 1987. His vision utilized India’s human resources and filled the gap of the booming IT industry in the country at a pivotal time.

The Indian tech industry which is now worth more than $300 billion, should be grateful to the mind that carried the flame of the revolution and brought it to the country, shaping dreams of thousands and millions of students for years to come.

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Prof Rajaraman authored over 40 text books, including popular books on computer programming, which remain an essential read for IT students to this day. 

After completing his graduation from MIT, Rajaraman could have stayed in America or started his own tech giant like his contemporaries. However, he decided to return to India and revolutionize the country’s entire education system around IT. That is why in 1998, he was awarded the third highest civilian honor, Padma Bhushan to commemorate his immense contribution.

PHI Learning, one of the publishing partners of Prof rajaraman, remembered him in their dedicated blog. They wrote that his final message of “no rituals, no ceremonies” reflected his humble nature and reflected a life lived with simplicity despite his immense contributions.

His IIT Kanpur colleagues recalled his remark, “Ignoring digital education means surrendering our future,” which shaped the future of India’s tech dream.

Prof. Rajaraman died peacefully on November 8, 2026 at the age of 92. Narayan Murthy, co-founder of Infosys, remembered his mentor after his death. He said:

The other co-founder of Infosys, Kris Gopalkrishnan also lamented the loss and said, “Prof Rajaraman is the doyen of Indian computer science education… His textbooks are the first introduction to programming for many Indian students. We have lost a pioneer of the computer industry in India.”

Prof N Balakrishnan (Balki), a supercomputer expert in SERC told TOI, “He is one of the great visionaries who thought of supercomputers when people didn't know if it was spelt as one word or two. In computer education, there are no two opinions about his contributions at all. Above all, he was a great human being. I've never seen him angry in all my years of association with him. It is a great loss,” 

It is the education sector that lays the foundation of any industry’s growth. There are multiple key figures in the Indian IT industry like the first CEO of TCS Faqir Chand Kohli (also known as the father of the Indian IT industry) and Narayan Krishnamurthy, but it will be amiss to not mention the ecosystem that Prof. Rajaraman built.

His vision for Indian IT education not only gave Indians an edge in the tech sector but also shaped thousands of student’s dreams who continue to lead IT and AI innovations around the world. That is why he is known as the father of Indian IT education.

One would like to think by the time of his passing in November 2025, Professor Vaidyeswaran Rajaraman would have been proud of the development India has done in the IT field and how Indian techies are dominating the global landscape. At the same time it is the onus of the future generation to carry the baton of the revolution into the age of AI, not letting Rajaraman’s name and dreams falter for decades to come.

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