77 Notable alumni of University of Mysore

Siga Arles was an Indian missiologist and founder of the Centre for Contemporary Christianity (Bangalore, India).

Bokinakere Ramakrishnaiya Subba Rao was an Indian-origin entomologist who worked at the Commonwealth Institute of Entomology. He was a specialist on biological control and described many species of parasitic wasps including Neodusmetia sangwani which is considered one of the most successful examples of classical biological control. Rao also served as a linesman and umpire at Wimbledon from 1969 to 1995.

Dr. Abraham Mar Julios is the Metropolitan Bishop of the Eparchy of Muvattupuzha of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. Abraham was born to late Varghese Kakkanattil in Padinjaremannil branch of Paramel family, Cherukole-Kozhenchery and Annamma Varghese in the village of Kalloopara, Thiruvalla. Having completed his school education, he joined the Infant Mary Minor Seminary, Thiruvalla in 1961. He completed his philosophical...

Nelamangala Vedavyasachar Madhusudana is an Indian physicist and an emeritus scientist at Raman Research Institute. Known for his research on liquid crystals, Madhusudhana is an elected fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences and Indian National Science Academy. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup...

N S Narendra is the chairman and managing director of FirePro Systems. He founded Firepro in 1992 with the intent of providing a professional platform in the Fire Solutions and Security space. He is a first-generation entrepreneur and has scaled up Firepro Systems to a leadership position in the Fire Safety and Security industry in less than decades.

Padma Anagol is a historian known for her work on women's agency and subjectivities in colonial India. Her work broadly focuses on gender and women's history in colonial British India. Her research interests also include a wide spectrum of topics such as material culture, consumption and Indian middle classes, theory, historiography and periodization of Modern India and comparative histories of...

Prakash Kumar Pallathadka is a professor of biological sciences specializing in plant development, tissue culture, plant psychology and molecular biology at the Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore.

Shalini R. Urs is an information scientist who pioneered the digital library movement in India, particularly the Electronic Thesis and Dissertations. She was awarded the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations–Adobe Leadership award in 2004 for her initiatives. She built a multilingual online digital library called Vidyanidhi in 2000, long before the digital era captured the imagination of many...

Abdul Rasheed is an Indian writer, poet, editor and translator from Karnataka. In 2004 he won Sahitya Akademi Golden Jubilee Award for lifetime achievement. He also a translator, blogger, columnist and radio personality.

Chikkanayakanahalli Puttegowda Krishnakumar (born 8 April 1939), commonly known as C. P. Krishnakumar or CPK, is an Indian academic, writer, poet, folklorist, critic and translator in Kannada. CPK has published more than 100 literary works in different genres including poetry, criticism, translation. He was the president at the 78th Kannada Sahitya Sammelana held in Gangavati in 2011.

Stan Ageira is a writer from Mulki, a town near Mangalore, Karnataka, India. He is a popular Konkani language writer. He started writing at an early age of 14. He has written over 250 short stories and 18 novels in Konkani.

Haradanahalli Ramaswamy Janardhana Iyengar was an eminent Civil engineer in Mysore, India. He made valuable contributions to the engineering profession during the 1940s and 1950s through his innovative methods and original designs.

Portonovo S. Ayyaswamy is an Indian-born-American mechanical engineer, the Asa Whitney Professor of Dynamical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA, and inventor.

Jalees Ahmed Khan Tareen, also known as J.A.K. Tareen, was born in Mysore, Karnataka, India in 1947. He was the vice-chancellor of B. S. Abdur Rahman University, in Chennai, India from 2013 to 31 March 2015. He was the recipient of the Padma Shri award 2009 for the Literature & Education given by the Government of India. He is one...

Subray Rama Nayak was an Indian judge who served as the chief justice of Chhattisgarh High Court from 17 November 2005 to 31 December 2006.

Doddabele Lakshmi Narasimhachar was a Kannada linguist, grammarian, lexicographer, writer, literary critic and editor who taught at the Department of Kannada Language Studies, University of Mysore between 1932 - 1962. His knowledge of Halegannada (Old Kannada Language) helped him in reading ancient epigraphic records. He authored four books in Kannada, edited about nine volumes, penned eleven prefaces, wrote nearly hundred...

Sriram Venkatasubba Setty popularly known as S.V. Setty (1879–1918) was an Indian aviator and professor from Mysore, Karnataka, India. He was known as the first Indian aviator, assisting with the design of the Avro 504.

Richard Crasta is an Indian American writer and novelist.

Mysore Hatti Krishna Iyengar was an Indian historian, archaeologist, epigraphist and authority in Indian numismatics. He pioneered the new field of Indology involving the study of Indian culture, history, music and traditions from a historical perspective. He is credited with the discovery of one of the oldest Kannada inscriptions, the Halmidi inscription, dating back to 350 A. D. He also...

Sunny Kurian is a Sharjah-based Indian-born pediatrician and the founder president of the UAE wing of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics. He is the founder trustee of the Indian Business and Professional Council (IBPC) and the chairman of Dr. Sunny's Group which he established in Sharjah in 1990.

Vidyalankara Saligrama Krishna Ramachandra Rao was an Indian author, Sanskrit scholar and professor of psychology.

Bellary Shamanna Kesavan was the first National Librarian of independent India (1947–1962). He is also known as Father of Indian National Bibliography as it was first brought out in his leadership on 15 August 1958. Later, he became the first Director of the Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre (INSDOC) at New Delhi (1963–1969). In recognition of his great service to...

Aryamba Pattabhi is an Indian novelist and writer in Kannada language. She is the younger sister of Triveni, a popular Kannada novelist and the niece of B. M. Srikantaiah, a famous Kannada poet, writer and translator.

Prasanna Kumar Basavalingappa better known as B. Prasanna Kumar is an Indian politician. He was a Member of Legislative Assembly for Yelahanka constituency from 1999 to 2008 and Pulakeshinagar constituency from 2008 to 2013.

Honnali Tipperudraswamy was an Indian scholar and writer of Kannada literature. He wrote political history, religious realities and cultural aspects. He has written a few biographies meant for children on the lives of Kannada poets and Veerashaiva saints. He has made contributions to literary criticism and modern literature.

Venkataramaiah Seetharamaiah commonly known as Vee See, was a Kannada poet, writer, essayist, critic, editor and teacher who taught Kannada literature at University of Mysore between 1928 and 1955. He is a recipient of the Karnataka Sahitya Akademi Award (1973), Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award and an Honorary Doctorate (D. Litt) from University of Mysore in 1976. He presided over the...

Sondekoppa Srikanta Sastri was an Indian historian, Indologist, and polyglot. He authored around 12 books, over two hundred articles, several monographs and book reviews over four decades in English, Kannada, Telugu and Sanskrit. These include "Sources of Karnataka History", "Geopolitics of India & Greater India", "Bharatiya Samskruthi" (a compendium on Indian culture and tradition) and "Hoysala Vastushilpa" (a study of...

Haravu Venkatanarasingha Verada Raj "H. V. R." Iengar CIE, ICS was the sixth Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 1 March 1957 to 28 February 1962.

Justice Mandagadde Rama Jois was an Indian politician and judge who served as a member of Rajya Sabha, as governor of Jharkhand and Bihar states, and as Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He was also a senior advocate in the Supreme Court of India.

Mysore Manjunath, is an Indian violinist. The son and disciple of violinist Vidwan S. Mahadevappa, Manjunath performed his first concert at the age of eight in Mysore as a child prodigy. He is one of the Mysore brothers duo. He is honored with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award by government of India, bestowed by the president of India at the...

Govindaray Hammanna Nayak was an Indian writer and academic. A professor of Kannada at University of Mysore, he was awarded the Central Sahitya Akademi Award for his work Sanskrit Chintana in 2014

Kumar Malavalli is an Indian American technology entrepreneur and philanthropist. In 1995, he founded Brocade Communications Systems with Paul Bonderson Jr. He currently serves as chairman of C3DNA Inc. and as a partner at VKRM Services, a boutique investment firm. He has also served on the boards of the Storage Networking Industry Association and the Fibre Channel Industry Association.

Kamala Hampana was an Indian writer who wrote in the Kannada language. Born in Devanahalli in Karnataka, she worked as a scholar and professor of ancient works and undertook studies on different genres of Kannada literature, as well as topics involving Jainism.

Abu Ahsan Mohammad Shamsul Arefin Siddique was a Bangladeshi academic who served as the 27th vice-chancellor of the University of Dhaka during 2009–2017. On 15 July 2020, he was appointed the chairman of the board of directors of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS). He was also president of the board of trustees of the Bangladesh National Museum.

Dr. S. K. Shivakumar was an Indian Distinguished Scientist from Karnataka state who worked at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) centres. He was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of India, in 2015.

Rudrapatna Krishnashastri Srikantan, known as R. K. Srikantan, was a vocalist of the Carnatic musical tradition of South Indian music. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1995.

R. Laxminarayanappa Jalappa was an Indian politician who was the leader of the Karnataka state branch of the Indian National Congress (INC).

Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy is an Indian Kannada–language poet, playwright and essayist. He authored over 50 works and has received recognitions including Kendra Sahitya Academy award in 2022, for his work "Bahutvada Bhaaratha Mattu Bouddha Thaatvikate".

Malur Ramasamy Srinivasan was an Indian nuclear scientist and mechanical engineer. He played a key role in the development of India's nuclear power programme and the development of the Pressurized heavy-water reactor (PHWR). He received the Padma Vibhushan award in 2015.

Devegowda Javaregowda, known as De Ja Gou or simply Javaregowda, was an Indian Kannada writer, folklorist, researcher, scholar and academic. He was disciple of authors T.N. Srikantaiah and Kuvempu. His literary career spans over decades in which he wrote over thirty-four biographies in Kannada language and other works including children's literature. He campaigned for the promotion of Kannada language. He...

B Ramanath Rai is an Indian politician affiliated with the Indian National Congress (INC). He is a six-time member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, having represented the Bantwal constituency in the years 1985, 1989, 1994, 1999, 2008, and 2013.

R. Ganesh is a practitioner of the art of avadhana, a polyglot, an author in Sanskrit and Kannada and an extempore poet in multiple languages. He has performed more than 1300 avadhanas, in Kannada, Sanskrit, Telugu and Prakrit. He is known for extempore composition of poetry (āśukavita) during these performances, and even of chitrakavya. He is the only Śatāvadhāni from...

Manepalli Narayanarao Venkatachaliah was the 25th Chief Justice of India, serving from 1993 to 1994. He currently serves as the Chancellor of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning (Deemed University) and on the advisory board of Foundation for Restoration of National Values, a society established in 2008 that strives to restore "national and cultural values" of India.

Kallahalli Sannegowda Bhagawan, known as Prof. K. S. Bhagawan, is an Indian Kannada writer, rationalist, translator, critic, scholar and retired professor. In addition to his works on Hinduism, Indian culture and history, he has translated the works of William Shakespeare including Julius Caesar and Hamlet. He is a recipient of many awards including the Rajyotsava Award, Kuvempu Award and the...

Theerthapura Nanjundaiah Srikantaiah commonly known as 'Thee. Nam. Shree, was a Kannada poet, essayist, editor, translator, linguist and teacher. He was awarded the Pampa Prashasthi for his work on the history and tradition of Indian poetics spanning two millennia titled Bharathiya Kavyamimamse. T. N. Srikantaiah was instrumental in preparing and publishing the Kannada version of Constitution of India in 1952....

Ganjam Venkatasubbiah, also known as G. V., was a Kannada writer, grammarian, editor, lexicographer, and critic who compiled over eight dictionaries, authored four seminal works on dictionary science in Kannada, edited over sixty books, and published several papers. Recipient of the Kannada Sahitya Akademi Award and the Pampa Award, Venkatasubbiah's contribution to the world of Kannada Lexicography is vast. His...

K. Rahman Khan is a Veteran Politician belonging to the Indian National Congress and a former Union Minister of Minority Affairs and also Ex-Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha.

Anasuya Shankar, popularly known by her pen name as Triveni, was an Indian writer of modern fiction in Kannada language. Many of her novels have been made into feature films, most prominently, Belli Moda (1967) and Sharapanjara (1971) – both directed by Puttanna Kanagal and featuring actress Kalpana. Her short-stories collection Samasyeya Magu won the Devaraja Bahadur Prize in 1950....

Roddam Narasimha FRS was an Indian aerospace scientist and fluid dynamicist. He was a professor of Aerospace Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science (1962–1999), director of the National Aerospace Laboratories (1984–1993) and the chairman of the Engineering Mechanics Unit at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR, 2000–2014). He was the DST Year-of-Science Chair Professor at JNCASR and...

Priya Krishna is an Indian politician from Karnataka. He is a member of the Indian National Congress.

Adaguru Huchegowda Vishwanath is an Indian politician from Karnataka state. He is a leader of Indian National Congress. He is a Nominated Member of Karnataka Legislative Council. He was the former president of Karnataka unit of the Janata Dal (Secular).

Rajeshwari Chatterjee was an Indian scientist and an academic. She was the first woman engineer from Karnataka and described herself as an engineering-scientist. During her tenure at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, Chatterjee was a professor and later chairperson of the department of Electrical Communication Engineering.

Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar, sometimes simply Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, was the twenty-fifth and last ruling Maharaja of Mysore, reigning from 1940 to 1950, who later served as the governor of Mysore until 1964 and as governor of Madras from 1964 to 1966.

Varanasi Ram Madhav is an Indian politician who served as the National General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is a member of the National Executive of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and has authored a few books. His latest is Uneasy Neighbours: India and China after Fifty Years of the War.

Srikanthadattā Narasimharājā Wadiyar was an Indian royal scion, politician, and fashion designer, who served as Member of Parliament from Mysore. He was the son of Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar, the last king of Mysore.

Yelandur Narayan Ravindra, known mononymously by his stage name Avinash, is an Indian actor who appears predominantly in Kannada and Tamil films. He has been working in films for more than three decades. Known for his authentic portrayal of complex characters and versatility, Avinash is one of the most sought after actors for supporting roles.

Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar is an Indian director, actor, screenwriter and a lyricist who predominantly works in Kannada Cinema. He made his film debut as a screenplay writer in Kadina Benki which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film and the Karnataka State Award. His directorial debut was Undu Hoda Kondu Hoda (1991) for which he won the Karnataka State...

Jagadish "Jaggi" Vasudev, also known as Sadhguru, is an Indian guru and founder of the Isha Foundation, based in Coimbatore, India. The foundation, established in 1992, operates an ashram and yoga centre that carries out educational and spiritual activities. Sadhguru has been teaching yoga since 1982. He is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Inner Engineering: A Yogi's...

Kuppalli Venkatappa Puttappa, popularly known by his pen name Kuvempu//, was an Indian poet, playwright, novelist and critic. He is widely regarded as the greatest Kannada poet of the 20th century. He was the first Kannada writer to receive the Jnanpith Award.

Rasipuram Krishnaswami Narayanaswami, better known as R. K. Narayan, was an Indian writer and novelist known for his work set in the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi. He was a leading author of early Indian literature in English along with Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao. In 1980, he was awarded the AC Benson Medal by the Royal Society...

Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna was an Indian politician who served as Minister of External Affairs of India from 2009 to October 2012. He was the 10th Chief Minister of Karnataka from 1999 to 2004 and the 19th Governor of Maharashtra from 2004 to 2008. S. M. Krishna served as the Speaker of the Karnataka Vidhana Soudha from December 1989 to January...

Rasipuram Krishnaswami Laxman was an Indian cartoonist, illustrator, and humorist. He was best known for his creation The Common Man and for his daily cartoon strip, You Said It in The Times of India, which started in 1951.

Santeshivara Lingannaiah Bhyrappa was an Indian novelist, philosopher and screenwriter who wrote in Kannada. His works are popular in the state of Karnataka and he is widely regarded as one of modern India's popular novelists. His novels are unique in terms of theme, structure, and characterization. He has been among the top-selling authors in the Kannada language and his books...

Sumathendra Raghavendra Nadig was an Indian professor and writer in Kannada. Nadig came upon the literary scene as a prominent modern poet in the 1960s. He was a close associate of Gopalakrishna Adiga, the leader of the modernist movement.

Kampalapura Veeranna Narayana, also known as KVN, is an Indian linguist, professor of Kannada language and literature, and a literary critic. He is currently the Chairman of the Kuvempu Bhasha Bharathi Pradikara, Government of Karnataka. He hails from Piriyapattana in Mysore district. During his time as a professor in Bangalore University, he initiated investigations into Kannada language and culture from...

Sobhana George is a politician and three-time Member of the Legislative Assembly of the state of Kerala, who, as an Indian National Congress candidate, represented Chengannur in the 9th, 10th and 11th Assemblies. She is the only woman to represent the same constituency consecutively for three years in the Indian National Congress Party.

Vijay Kumar Kapahi was an Indian astrophysicist and the director of the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, an autonomous division of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. Known for his research on radio galaxies, quasars and observational cosmology, Kapahi was an elected fellow of all the three major Indian science academies – Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy and...

Sir Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar was an Indian lawyer, diplomat, and statesman who was the first president of the United Nations Economic and Social Council and the 24th and last dewan of Mysore. He also served as a senior leader of the Justice Party and in various administrative and bureaucratic posts in pre- and Independent India. He was a prominent orator...

Nagavara Ramarao Narayana Murthy is an Indian billionaire businessman. He is the founder of Infosys, and was the chairman, chief executive officer (CEO), president, and chief mentor of the company before retiring and becoming chairman emeritus. As of January 2025, his net worth was estimated at US$5.0 billion, according to Forbes.

Mandagere Subbarao Krishnamurthy, known by the pen name Indiresh or Ma Su Krishnamurthy, is an Indian Kannada writer and Hindi writer.

Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao is an Indian chemist who has worked mainly in solid-state and structural chemistry. He has honorary doctorates from 86 universities from around the world and has authored around 1,800 research publications and 58 books. He is described as a scientist who had won all possible awards in his field except the Nobel Prize.

V. P. Appukutta Poduval is an Indian independence activist and Gandhian social activist from Kerala, India. He was awarded Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2023.

Udupi Rajagopalacharya Ananthamurthy was an Indian contemporary writer and critic in the Kannada language. He was born in Thirtahalli Taluk and is considered one of the pioneers of the Navya movement. In 1994, he became the sixth Kannada writer to be honored with the Jnanpith Award, the highest literary honour conferred in India. In 1998, he received the Padma Bhushan...

Taruvai Subayya Krishnamurthy is a former Indian Revenue Service officer who served as 13th Chief Election Commissioner (C.E.C) of India (February 2004 – May 2005). His main assignment as C.E.C was to oversee the 2004 elections to the Lok Sabha. He had earlier served in the Election Commission of India as a commissioner since January 2000.

Raimon Panikkar Alemany, also known as Raimundo Panikkar and Raymond Panikkar, was a Spanish Catholic priest and a proponent of interfaith dialogue. As a scholar, he specialized in comparative religion.

Hosur Narayan Murthy was an Indian clinical psychologist, writer, philosopher, Sanskrit scholar and teacher who headed the department of clinical psychology at National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) at Bangalore. He was born in the city of Bangalore in 1924 to Brahmin parents Hosur Ramaswamaiah Subba Rao and smt Rajamma. Murthy's father was an official at "Iron...