Distinguished Alumnae

Academics
Name Details
Ms. Christina Amos First woman graduate from Car Nicobar, Principal of an Institution in the Andamans.
Ms. Soma Samarasinha née Senivaratna (1918) First student from Sri Lanka (Ceylon)
Dr. E.K. Janaki Ammal (1921) First Indian women to complete Ph.D. in Botany. One of the first women scientists to receive the Padma Shri award way back in 1977.
Ms. Rachel Thomas née Jacob (1922) Former Headmistress, Achuthan Girls High School, Calicut – Kerala.
Ms. Gnanambal Gnanadickam (1925) Former Principal, Lady Doak College, Madurai.
Ms. Getsie Rathnabai Samuel (1926) First Indian Principal of St. Christopher’s Training College, Madras.
Ms. Mary Chandy (1931) Former Principal, University College for Women, Miranda House, Delhi.
Ms. Dora David (1932) Former Principal of Sara Tucker College, Palayamkottai.
Ms. Thilakavathy Paul (1932) Former Headmistress, Bentinck Girls High School, Chennai.
Ms. Thangam Isaac née Moses (1932) Former Principal, St. Ebba’s High School, Chennai.
Ms. Helen Cyprian née Amirtham (1934) Former Headmistress, St. Joseph’s High School, Bangalore.
Ms. Lily F. Charles née Samuel(1934) Former Principal of All Saints Basic Training School, Trichinapalli.
Ms. Mona Hensman (1937) Former Principal, Ethiraj College, Chennai
Ms. Mano Devaraj (1938) Former Principal of the Gill Memorial Higher Secondary School, Ooty, Correspondent OCPM School and Noyes School.
Ms.Thangam E. Philip (1941) Recipient of the Ceres award of the FAO in 1975,
Padma Shri Awardee;
Former Principal of Catering Technology, Mumbai;
Lifetime Honorary Fellow of the Hotel Catering International Management Association, UK in 2003.
Dr. Rajammal P. Devadas (1942) Chancellor, Avinashilingam Deemed University, Coimbatore;
Padma Shri Awardee;
Winner of the International Nutrition Award, 2001, from the International Union of Nutrition Sciences (IUNS);
Recipient of the International Danone Nutrition Prize; Member, State Planning Commission.
Ms. Lal Ziki Sailo (1944) The first Mizo woman graduate.
Appointed Principal of the Lushai Hills Teachers’ Training College in Assam.
Served the Mizoram Government .
Ms. Eva Matthew (1946) Former Principal, Ethiraj College, Chennai.
Ms. Sarojini Balreddy Former Principal, St. Christopher’s Training College;
Former President of the Women’s Christian College Association.
Dr. Godavari Kamalanathan (1949) Former Joint Director, Avinashilingam Educational Trust, Coimbatore.
Dr. Doris Jesudas née Purushotham (1949) Former Medical Superintendent of Christian Rainy Hospital.
Ms. Margaret Thiagarajan née Jayaseeli Edward (1956) Former Headmistress of Govt. Girls Higher Secondary School, Melur.
Dr.Philomena Reddy (1956) Former Vice-Chancellor, Sri Venkateshwara University, Tirupathi.
Ms. Elizabeth Joseph née Abraham (1958) Former Principal, Bishop Cotton Girls School.
Ms. Amelieta Mullens née Benjamin (1961) Former Principal of Institute of Catering Technology.
Ms. Malathi Mohan (UG: 1961 PG: 1963 Faculty: 1977-1999) National President, Indian Dietetic Association (1990-1993)
Ms. Shanti Manuel (1962) Former Principal, Lady Doak College, Madurai.
Dr. Adella Paul (1963) Former Principal, Isabella Thoburn College, Lucknow and Meston Training College, Chennai.
Ms.Thilaka Baskaran née Isaac (1963) Former Principal, MGR Janaki College of Arts and Science, Chennai.
Dr. Elizabeth Thomas née Matthew (1965) Former Principal, Bishop Cotton Women’s Christian College, Bangalore.
Ms. Valli Alagappan (1965) Member, Managing Committee, MRAR Educational Society;
Managing Trustee SOS Village; Founder, Omayal Achi College of Nursing.
Ms. Abida Wafir Ford (1967) First woman graduate from the Maldives and was IFA’s Aromatherapist of the year for helping Cancer patients.
Ms. Lalitha Ramanujam (1969) Founder and Director, Alpha to Omega School for the learning disabled.
Dr. Eva Sunderajan (1971) Former Principal, Institute of Hotel Management (IHM), Chennai.
Dr. P. Geervani (1976) Vice-Chancellor, Osmania University, Hyderabad.
Dr. Srilata Ravi (1979) named Chevalier dans l’ordre des Palmes Academiques by the French Government,
for her teaching of and research in French Literature and Culture at the National University of Singapore.
Ms. Latha Rajendran (1982) Secretary and Correspondent, Dr. MGR Janaki Arts and Science College, Chennai;
Principal, MGR School for the Speech and Hearing Impaired, Chennai;
General Secretary, National Convention of Educators of the Deaf;
Recipient of the Tamil Nadu State Award, in 1996, for best teacher of the hearing impaired.
Administration
Name Details
Ms. Tarabai Cherian née Jesudasan (1934) First lady Mayor of Madras, Chairperson of the Guild of Service and the Tamil Nadu Social Welfare Board.
Ms. Shanta Pai (1945) Former General Manager of Madras Telephones, went on deputation to the World Bank as Senior Telecom Officer.
Ms. Vatsala Pai (1951) Former Director of Tourism, Government of India, and Regional Director for South India and South East Asia.
Ms. Radha Acharya (1952) First lady President of the Agri Horticultural Society of India.
Ms. Gowri Chandrakasan (1961) Former Deputy Director of Central Leather Research Institute.
Ms. Vimala Kumar (1962) Former Chief Post Master General, Orissa.
Ms. Sara Mathew née Verghese (1975) President US and CFO Dun & Bradstreet Corporation.
Arts
Name Details
Ms.Urmila Sathyanarayanan (1972) recipient of the Aditya Vikram Birla Kiran Puraskar from the Governor of Maharashtra in 1998.
Ms.Nirupama Nithyanandam (1983) recipient of the Chevalier des Arts et des Leltres by the French Government of her contribution to the world of arts.
Ms.Malavika Sarukkai Renowned Bharathanatyam dancer.
Ms.Preethi Srinivasan (1990) Classical Dancer
Ms.Preethi B.Athreya (1996) Choreographer-Performer
Ms. Shalini Maria Singh (2000) Pop singer
Ms. Andrea Jeremiah (2005) Singer, actor and model
Business
Name Details
Ms. Ganga Bapaiaya née K.B. Ganga (1939) Former President of District Industrial Co-Operative Bank, District Commissioner of Girl Guides.
Ms.Sunalini Menon née Basu (1968) The first woman coffee taster in India. Director Coffe Board of India, Chief Executive of Coffee Lab Private Ltd. Bangalore.
Ms. Anna Abraham (1976) first put together the Maggie noodles taste-maker
Ms. Mallika Srinivasan née Sivasailam (1979) Director, TAFE (Tractors and Farm Equipment Ltd.);
Director General of Foreign Trade; Member, Board of Trade, Ministry of Commerce;
Member, Executive Board, Indian School of Business (ISB).
Padma Shri Awardee (2014)
Mrs. Gowri Rajesh Winner of the First Indian Quality Award instituted by Illy Coffee.
Christian Ministry
Name Details
Ms.Devakadakshamma First lady bishop of the CSI , Andhra Pradesh.
Miss Elizabeth Paul (1948) Ordained Minister CSI
Mrs.Padmasini Gallup née Jothimuthu (1948) Ordained Minister CSI
Revd. Shirley Murphy (1997) First Indian woman to be ordained in the Church in Wales in Wales, UK in 2018
Film Industry
Name Details
Mrs. Sheela Christina Raj (Saranya) Movie star
Ms. Heera Rajagopal Movie star
Ms. Deepa Dhanraj (1973) Documentary Film Maker, won an International award for documentary titled ‘Something like war’.
Ms. Rashmi Devadasan (2003) Directing documentaries and co-directing movies
Health and Allied Specialities
Name Details
Ms. Anna Jacob (1947) President, Trained Nurses Association of India, member of the Board of Directors of the International Council of Nurses in Germany.
Dr. Mary Jacob (1951) Former Head of Anatomy Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore
Miss. Rebekah Mani née Jacob (1955) The first Indian Dietician at Christian Medical College, Vellore.
Dr. Sulochana Abraham née Jacob (1963) Former Head of Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Consultant WHO
Dr.Wahida Karmally (1966) Special Research Scientist, Columbia University, USA
Associate Editor, Journal of Clinical Lipidology
Ms. Nirmala Jesudason (1969) Consultant dietician and chief, Dept. of Dietitics, International Centre of Cardio Thoracic and Vascular Diseases, Chennai
Ms. Rebecca Thomas née Jacob (1976) Former Honorary Secretary of FORTE (Forum for Organ Retrieval and Transplant Education)
Awarded International Fellowship by Ashoka, Innovators for the public.
Sally Mathew Nelson (1978) Assistant Professor Research in liver transplant in Denver, Colorado.
Mrs.Dharini Krishnan (1982) National President, Indian Dietetic Association (2007 to 2010), Chennai Chapter
Ms. Suja Isaac Mathai née John (1987) Holistic Nutritionist –Co-Founder of ‘Soukya’, an International Holistic Health Centre in Bangalore.
Dr. Abirami Chidambaram Director International Forensic Laboratories, Alaska, U.S.A
Indian Administrative Service [IAS]
Name Details
Ms. Minnie Mathew née Francis (1972) AP Cadre – Controller, Department of Space, Kerala.
Ms. Susan Mathew née Benjamin (1975) TN Cadre – Currently Secretary to Govt. Youth Welfare and Sports development. Recipient of prestigious ‘Lester Pearson Fellowship’ by the International Development and Reseach Centre, Govt. of Canada in 1986.
Ms. Malini Shankar née Viswanathan (1978) Development Commissioner, Industries, Government of Maharashtra
Ms. Shanthini Kapoor née Feodore (1983) Commissioner Tribal, Welfare Dept.
Ms. Apoorva (1984) Principal Secretary to Government, Higher Education Department, Government of Tamil Nadu.
Ms. Chitra Arumugam (1989) Policy Officer, Bangalore.
Indian Foreign Service [IFS]
Name Details
Miss C.B. Muthamma (1945) First woman to join the Civil Service through Union Public Service and
went on to become the first Indian woman Ambassador to Hungary and the Netherlands.
Mrs. Leela Ponnapa née Krishnamurthy (1967) India’s Ambassador to Holland.
Mrs. Vijayalatha Reddy (1971) India’s Ambassador to Portugal.
Ms. Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa (1975) Deputy Director General ICCR, Ambassador to Sweden.
Ms.Angeline Premalatha (2003) Head of Branch Secretariat, Ministry of External Affairs, Chennai
Indian Police Service [IPS]
Name Details
Tmt. Letika Saran (1971) First woman to attain the rank of IG, a recipient of the President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service in August 2000.
She has been appointed as the Director General of Police for Tamil Nadu on 8th January 2010. She becomes the first woman DGP in the state of Tamil Nadu.
Mrs.Aruna Bahuguna née Gibbs (1977) Inspector General Police, Andhra Pradesh. ADGP Co-Coordinator Police Headquarters, Hyderabad.
Legal
Name Details
Mrs. Lily Pithavadian (1917) Honorary Presidency Magistrate
Ms. Anna Mathew (1974) Practising Lawyer Madras High Court
Literature and Journalism
Name Details
Mrs. Anna Ittyerah née Alexander (1922) Editor ‘Balamitram’ a children’s magazine.
Mrs. Lizzie Joseph (1922) Editor ‘Treasure Chest’ , a children’s magazine
Mrs.Vasanthi Sankaranarayanan (1953) Writer, Translator of Malayalam writing into English
Mrs. Gita Krishnankutty (1955) Writer; recipient of the Sahitya Academy Award and Crossword Book Award for translation.
Ms.Uma Narayanan (1959) Translator of Indian and French works into English
Ms. Prema Rajagopal (1959) Translator French to English
Ms. Jeeva Ragunath (1967) Teacher, storyteller, Author of Children’s books.
Mrs.Sevanti Ninan (1970) Media expert and writer
Ms.Elizabeth Roy (1970) Theatre critic and freelance writer
Ms. Ammu Joseph (1974) Writer, Award winning media personality and journalist who writes on women’s issues, especially gender discrimination.
Mrs. Nirmala Lakshman (1974) Political analyst, writer and Joint Editor, The Hindu
Ms. Subashree Krishnaswamy (1980) Writer, translator, editor, won an award for her short story ‘Bright Pink Butterfly Clips’ from BBC World Service short story competition, 2005.
Mrs. Parameswari (1980) translates from Japanese to English.
Ms. Ruth N. Davidar (1984) Author of the cookbook, Indian Food Sense.
Ms. Sivagami Subbiah Natesan (1984) Freelance editor and writer.
Ms.Shoba Narayan (1988) Freelance journalist, New York;
recipient of the M.F.K. Fisher Award for distinguished writing given by the James Beard Foundation, USA.
Ms. Lakshmi Nagappan (1992) Columnist – The Hindu
Ms. Mandira Moddie (1996) Journalist
Ms. Kamini Mathai (1997) Columnist and staff – The Indian Express
Ms. Susan Muthalaly Reporter – The Hindu
Ms Shonali Muthalaly (2000) Reporter – The Hindu
Ms. Kannal Achuthan (2001) Reporter in The Hindu
Mrs. Lakshmi B. Adityan Editor Rendezvous, Ladies’ Circle India Magazine
Ms. Paromita Pain Sr. Reporter / Sub Editor, The Hindu
Pilots
Name Details
Miss. Deeptha Chitrapu Trained Pilot
Politics
Name Details
Mrs. Rukmini Lakshmipathy (1918) Freedom Fighter, Social Reformer – First Lady Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly prior to Independence.
Ms. Subhashini Ali née Sehgal (1967) former Member of Parliament, Chairperson – All India Democratic Women’s Association
Ms. Parimala Nethaji Municipal Councillor, Chennai
Scientists
Name Details
Ms. Anna Mani (1936) Former Director, Meteorological office, Pune, Professor, Raman Research Institute, Bangalore,
Author of handbook for Solar Radiation Data for India 1980 and Solar Radiation over India 1981.
Ms. Nirupama Raghavan (1959) Astrophysicist, former Director Nehru Planetorium, New Delhi.
Ms. Renuka Ravindran née Rajagopalan (1963) Former Dean of Science, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.
Social Work
Name Details
Ms. Shanti Sudirsanam (1937) Formerly Deputy Director of the Department of Social Welfare and Rural Development, Tamil Nadu.
Ms. Justin S. Jesudasan née Das (1949) Former President of the Guild of Service.
Ms.Uma Narayanan (1959) Founder Trustee of SOS Children’s Village, Tambaram, and of Karna Prayag Adoption Centre. Recipient, Chief Minister’s special award for work among women and children (1992 & 1993)
Dr. Ruth Manorama (1973) President, National Alliance of Women, New Delhi; recipient of the ‘Desasnehi’ Award and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Award, in appreciation of her relentless struggle for the empowerment of marginalized women.
Padma Shri Anita Reddy (1973) Founder of DWARAKA (Development of Weavers and Rural Artisans in Kalamkari Art); social activist.
Ms. Sujatha Padmanabhan (1983) Worked with the Spastic Societty in North India. Active with the environmental group ‘KALPAVRIKSH’. Works in the tribal areas of Karnataka.
Ms. Vandana Gopikumar (1991) and Ms. Vaishnavi Jayakumar (1992) Founders of Banyan, an institution for mentally challenged women in Chennai
Ms. Kundavi Doing pioneering work while living with tribal people
Mrs. Zoraida Samuel Founder Trustee of ‘REHEBOTH’ – a home for the mentally challenged
Sports
Name Details
Ms. Beulah Moses née Solomon (1956) First lady Physical Directress to be sent to Germany for training.
Ms. Sarojini Sanders (1958) Outstanding Athlete
Ms.Susan Pallikal née Ittycheriah (1978) Former captain of the Indian Women’s Cricket Team.
Ms. Sonya De Souza (1985) Represented the university in Swimming.
Ms. K. Sheila (1985) Represented the university in Cricket.
Ms. Sandra Satur (1989) Awarded ‘National Star Athlete’ title.
Ms. Roopa Unnikrishnan (1989) Rhodes Scholar, Participated in national and international rifle shooting tournaments;
Silver medallist in 1994 Commonwealth Games and National Gold medallist.
Ms. Monica Navamani (1989) National football goalkeeper.
Ms. Kavita Devairakkam (1990) Silver medallist in All India Inter University Rowing Championship.
Ms.Soumya Ramprasad (1998) Represented India abroad in golf tournament and won the second place.
Ms. Urvashi Venkatakrishnan (2000) Gold medallist in Junior National Rowing Championship.
Ms. A. Kalaiarasi (2001) National player in Handball.
Ms. Vaishali Mahalingam (2005) National participant in Equestrian event.
Ms. Sonali (2005) National representative in Squash.