Dr. S. Chandrasekhar
and the Ramanujan Institute

In April 1957, when Alagappa Chettiar died, Dr. C.T. Rajagopal wrote to Dr. S. Chandrasekhar that the Institute 'will cease to exist on the first of next month'! Dr. Chandrasekhar wrote to the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru who promptly replied: 'Even if you had not put in your strong recommendation in favour of the Ramanujan Institute of Mathematics, I would not have liked anything to happen which put an end to it. Now that you have also written to me on this subject, I shall keep in touch with this matter and I think I can assure you that the Institute will be carried on.' As a consequence, in 1957, the Institute created by Alagappa Chettiar was absorbed by the University of Madras and became the Center for Advanced study in Mathematics of the University. This center was named the Ramanujan Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics. The Institute moved from A.C. College of Technology, Guindy, to its new premises on the Wallajah Road (opposite to the renowned M.A. Chidambaram Cricket Ground) in Chepauk, Chennai.