Professor C Santhamma

Looking at the picture of this woman, what is the first impression one gets?

‘She is a simple woman.’                                                                     Yes.

‘She is using crutches to walk, without seeking help.’                                        Yes.

‘She must be spending her time teaching children.’                                          Yes

'She is a professor teaching physics at Centurion University. Would you believe me?          No

This amazing, unbelievable, and inspiring 94-year-old woman is Professor Chilukuri* Santhamma whose discipline, dedication and passion for teaching have defied the adage. Age is just a number, with her indomitable spirit and passion for teaching for nearly seventy years!

Such is her love for teaching that at this ripe age of 94+ when most persons of her age are virtually confined to bed, Professor Santhamma travels about 60kms every day from Visakhapatnam to teach her students Physics at Centurion University in Vizianagaram in AP, India.

Today, she is the world's oldest teaching professor.

Chilukuri Santhamma was born posthumously on 8th March 1929 in Machilipatnam, a town in Andhra Pradesh. Her paternal uncle, who was a district judge, brought her up.

Though she loved mathematics, physics became her passion. In 1945, she received a gold medal for physics from Maharaja Vikram Deo Varma. She was then an intermediate student at AVN College, Visakhapatnam. Thereafter, she completed her B.Sc. and M. Sc Honours from Andhra University on the subject. She also pursued D.Sc. (Doctor of Science-equivalent to PhD) in Microwave Spectroscopy from Andhra University and joined the College of Science, Andhra University, as a Physics Lecturer, in 1956. 

She is the first woman in India to be awarded a Doctor of Science for physics.

Retired formally in 1989, but retirement did not put a stop to her love for teaching. She continued to teach as an honorary lecturer for many more years and helped many students in their MSc research projects and as a guide to PhD students. Post-retirement, she turned her attention to research and has written many articles and published many books on various topics related to physics. She has won several awards for her analysis of Atomic Spectroscopy and Molecular Spectroscopy.

When one of her ex-students joined Centurion University as vice-chancellor, she requested him to give her an opportunity to teach the students at that university. She holds the position of Emeritus Professor at Centurion University at Vizianagaram.

With the help of crutches, due to knee replacement surgery, underwent a few years back. Santhamma begins her day at 4 am to prepare notes for her lectures. She gives lectures and does research for the various publications and articles she publishes.

Age does not worry her. Time and energy are the two important factors in teaching, she asserts and hopes to continue teaching till the end. She is proud of the fact that the present vice-chancellor of Centurion University in Vizianagaram, Prof GSN Raju was her student. Her students are impressed with the depth of her knowledge, her discipline and her dedication. Even her peers are in awe of her enthusiasm.

Over the six decades of her teaching career, she has been a lecturer, Reader, Investigator and Professor, teaching her favourite subject- Physics. She has also worked as an investigative in-charge in various central government departments such as the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), University Grants Commission (UGC) and Department of Science and Technology (DST).

Various academic and scientific institutes seek her. Recently Department of Science and Technology (DST) requested her to submit a project on applications of spectroscopy on foods, drugs and petrochemicals.

When UGC asked for a monograph on group theory, she recollected that about a few decades back she had collected some papers on the subject. However, she had got busy with her teaching work and presumed she had lost those papers. However, she was thrilled to find them when she moved to another house and used her old research papers for the monograph presentation.

Her husband, Chilukuri Subrahmanya Sastry, was a Telugu professor and introduced her to the Upanishads. This led to her interest in Puranas, Vedas and Upanishads. She has authored a book, "Bhagavad Gita - The Divine Directive", the English version of Bhagavad Gita slokas.

In 2019 she has co-authored an article, Application of different methods in factorisation as envisaged by Jagadguru Shankaracharya, Sri Bharathi Krishna Thirtha Maharaj of Puri Mutt, using "Vedic Sutras.”

She has also written articles on the Solution of Polynomial Equations using Vedic Methods at the age of 91!

"Health is in our minds and wealth in our hearts.”

Santhamma has adopted an orphan boy, who looked after her husband when he was bedridden. The boy grew up under her care and is presently working. She now lives with him, his wife and his children. She donated her house to the Vivekananda Medical Trust and hopes to build one, which she wishes to leave for her son.

This is her way of giving back to society what she, as a posthumous child, received from her uncle.

"We should always keep our minds and heart healthy. I can’t compare myself to Albert Einstein, but I believe I am here for a purpose - to teach until my last breath," adds the amazing Professor Chilukuri Santhamma.

Her well-wishers hope she will soon enter the Guinness book of records as the oldest teaching Professor in the world.

Koti, Koti pranaams to Professor C Santhamma, whose life, dedication and passion for teaching are an inspiration to all.

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* One website states her name as Chinukuri Santhamma.

 # Photo and content from various sources on the internet.