University of Houston Receives First Instalment of $500,000 Toward Establishment of Tamil Studies Chair

Houston Tamil Studies Chair Inc. presented a check of $500,000 to the University of Houston as a first instalment towards funding a Tamil Studies Chair. Indian American Chancellor of UH Dr. Renu Khator can be seen at the center. (photo provided)

India-West Staff Reporter

Houston Tamil Studies Chair Inc., a Texas nonprofit with the primary purpose of setting up a Tamil Studies Chair at the University of Houston, Nov. 11 made the first payment of $500,000 to the University of Houston as part of a series of payments to set up the Tamil Studies Chair.

The event was attended by Dr. Renu Khator, Indian American Chancellor and president of UH; Dr. Eloise Dunn Brice, vice chancellor and vice president of UH; Dr. Daniel P. O’Connor, interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences; and Kim Howard, senior director of Advancement, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, according to a press release from Tupil Narasiman.

HTSC was represented by its board comprising president Sockalingam (Sam) Kannappan, Tupil Narasiman, Thiruvengadam Arumugam, Perumal Annamalai, N. Ganesan, Sockalingam Narayanan, Caldwell Velnambi. Consul General Aseem Mahajan also attended the event, which was live streamed.

Khator offered a few remarks about the achievements of UH in terms of raising a significant amount of funding for the university in recent years, adding that UH is one of the top 50 universities in the U.S., the release noted. She said she was pleased to note that HTSC’s setting up a Tamil Chair is the first Indian language chair being set up in Texas and particularly at UH.

Kannappan made a few remarks and thanked the Tamil Nadu State Government for contributing one crore rupees ($140,000) to the chair. Caldwell Velnambi, president of the Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America, and a member of the HTSC board, spoke about FetNA and invited the UH executives to the annual FeTNA convention.

HTSC is committed to raising $2 million by the end of 2026 to set up a permanent Tamil Studies Chair at UH. The plan calls for funding the first million dollars by July 31, 2022 and the rest by 2026, according to the release.