V. Vasanthi Devi (born 1938[1]) is an Indian educationist and acclaimed academic. She is the president of the Association for India's Development and a trustee of the Madras Institute of Development Studies. Devi served as the vice-chancellor of the Manonmaniam Sundaranar University between 1992–1998 and as the chairperson of the State Commission for Women in Tamil Nadu between 2002 and 2005.[2]

Biography

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Vasanthi Devi was born in 1938 in Dindigul, Madras Presidency to P V Das who was a municipal chairman. At the age of 15, she moved to the city of Madras and enrolled in the Queen Mary's College, Chennai to complete her higher secondary education.[3] She graduated from Presidency College, Chennai with a Master of Arts in history.[4] Subsequently, she went to the Philippines in the 1970s for a PhD in domestic political groupings and dynamics and graduated with the doctorate at the University of the Philippines in 1980.[4][5]

She became a professor at the Queen Mary's College and is noted to have led the 1987 college teacher's strike in Tamil Nadu.[1][6] She was appointed as the principal of the Government College for Women, Kumbakonam between 1988 and 1990.[3] Between 1992 and 1998, she was appointed as the vice-chancellor of the Manonmaniam Sundaranar University and later made the chairperson of the State Commission for Women in Tamil Nadu between 2002 and 2005.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b Kumar, Divya (18 May 2010). "Memories of Madras – Lessons by the beach". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  2. ^ a b Radhakrishnan, R. K. (13 May 2016). "An unusual contestant". Frontline. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  3. ^ a b Das, Monalisa (21 April 2016). "PWF's candidate against Jayalalithaa is a respected academic, and she wants to put up a tough fight". The News Minute. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Vasanthi Devi". myneta.info. Association for Democratic Reforms.
  5. ^ Srinivasan, Meera (11 May 2016). "Tamil Nadu Elections: A Professor's Big Fight Against Jayalalithaa". The Wire. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  6. ^ Janardhanan, Arun (21 April 2016). "Educationist and former ministers' kin line up against Jayalalithaa". The Indian Express. Retrieved 21 November 2020.