Dr. K. A. Jagannathan

K.A. JAGANNATHAN⁹ (K.V.ATHINATHA⁸ IYENGAR, K.V.VENKATARAMA⁷, R.VENKATAVARADHA⁶, V.RAMA⁵, K.VENKATAVARADHA⁴, KRISHNA³, R.SESHA², PULLYADI RAMACHANDRA¹ DIKSHADAR)

He married Laurice in 1969

Dr. K.A. Jagannathan was born in Tuticorin in 1935 and this began the 9^th generation of the Kizhanatham family.

K.A. Jagannathan grew up in his maternal uncle’s (Srinivasa mama) house in Tuticorin. He studied in S.A.V. High School and obtained his Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) in 1950. In 1951, he spent several months in his paternal uncle’s house in Palayamcottai learning shorthand and typewriting. During this period, he worked for three months for the Tea Board of India collecting data for a survey about the tea drinking habits of households.
After earning the SSLC in 1950, Jagannathan enrolled in the Central Polytechnique, Madras, to study for the diploma course in electrical engineering. Three months after enrollment, he quit the polytechnique because he could not afford the room and board expenses.
In 1952, he enrolled with the Tamilnadu Polytechnic, Madurai, to earn a diploma in civil engineering. Due to financial difficulties in continuing his studies, he left for Calcutta to find employment.
The salary of his first job as a typist was Rs. 75 ($15 at the prevailing exchange rate) per month. After a few months, he worked for India Automobiles for approximately one year, then for Jardine Henderson (1953-1956) and, later, for the United States Information Service (USIS) as a typist-stenographer from 1956 to 1963.
In 1953, he enrolled in the evening division of City College, Calcutta to study commerce. He developed a greater interest in social science and decided to join Bangabasi College, Calcutta in the evening division to earn a degree in economics and political science. He completed the B.A. Honors program in economics and political science in 1957. Soon after earning his bachelor’s degree, he enrolled in the evening division of law school of the University of Calcutta and earned LL.B. degree in 1961.
After relocating to Madras (now called Chennai) in 1960, he pursued a three-year diploma course in the study of French language at Alliance Francaise (administered by the French Ministry of Education) while working for USIS. He was awarded the diploma in April 1963.
In August 1963, he sailed for the United States in an Italian ship (M.V. Roma) to study at the University of Kansas (KU) on a Research assistantship. He earned M.A. in political science in 1965.
With a teaching assistantship from the University of Washington, Seattle, he completed his doctoral program and earned his Ph.D. in 1971.
His interests are French and Russian languages; Literature, Jazz and Western Classical Music.

Following his doctoral studies, he taught at Oregon State University, Corwallis, Oregon, from 1971 to 1975. After his teaching career, he worked for the State of Oregon from 1975 to 1978. In 1978, he accepted a job with the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare (now renamed Department of Health and Human Services or DHHS). Prior to his retirement in 2006, he worked as a senior program analyst for the Administration for Children and Families in DHHS.

Diving and Global Trekking:

Although he and his wife, Laurice, had done a lot of traveling and visited several countries, he was a contented snorkeler until he learned to appreciate the beauty and diversity of marine life. In 2009, he was certified as an Open Water diver (at age 74). Later, he secured PADI’s Advanced Diving, Nitrox Air, and Extreme Shark Diver Certifications. Jagannathan has done shark diving in Fiji and Bahamas. As of 2021, He has done 240 dives in several oceans of the world. For a detailed account of his diving visits and interesting underwater photography, one can google his name and look for a blog titled Old “Young” Man and the Sea written by his niece Vidya Sudarsan.