Professor M.C. Madhavan

Professor M.C. Madhavan has had an exceptionally distinguished academic career for over half a century. He is a Professor of Economics and Asian Studies Emeritus at San Diego State University.

He has had the distinct honor of receiving a record five Fulbright Awards and has held visiting professor appointments in the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras; the National Institute of Bank Management, Poona; the Madras School of Economics, Chennai; the University Putra Malaysia; and for the Harvard University’s Fulbright Teaching Program in Ho Chi Minh City and the University of Law and Economics, Phnom Penh. He was a visiting scholar at the International Monetary Fund and at the University of Taipei, Taiwan and at GuanZhou Normal University, China.

He has written extensively in the area of development economics and has delivered over 150 lectures on variety of topics in many countries under the auspices of the USIS and other organizations. He is an invited contributor of over 60 articles to daily newspapers such as The Hindu of India and San Diego Union-Tribune.

He was President of the Tamil Nadu Foundation and is a founding member and advisor to the Mingei International Museum. He has held positions in many civic organizations, including the Forum of the Arts (San Diego), and the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Asia – Pacific Islanders.

He is the recipient of many awards over the years, including Gandhi, King, Ikeda Award and Peace Medal by Morehouse College and Martin Luther King International Chapel and KPBS Television — Union Bank Local Hero Award.

Professor M.C. Madhavan joined SDWAC as a member in March 1970 and now he is a consular member. He served SDWAC as Co-chair of the Program Committee with Professor Sandy Lakeoff, Vice-President, President (and Chairman) of SDWAC from 1988 to 1993, and the Board of Directors from 1994 to 2012.

During this period, he organized the First, Second, and Third International Citizen awards celebrations,  honoring Dr. Richard Atkinson, Chancellor, UCSD; Dr. Thomas Day, President, SDSU; and Dr. Author Hughes (President, USD), Dr. Irwin Jacobs (CEO, Qualcomm); J. Neal Blue and Linden S. Blue (CEO and President, General Atomics); Dr. Richard A. Learner (President, Scripps Research Institute); Mayor Susan Golding (Mayor of San Diego); and Mayor Hector Osuna (Mayor of Tijuana).

The SDWAC Silver Jubilee celebration was held on June 17, 1993. Professor Madhavan chaired the three-day ASEAN Conference in 1988 and a week-long Japan Festival in 1992.

Professor Madhavan’s 90th birthday will be on December 17, 2022.