The University of Toronto Scarborough has announced a lecture series and a Tamil literary award in the name of late AIADMK leader and former Minister V.R. Nedunchezhiyan popularly known as ‘Navalar’.
Wisdom Tettey, principal, University of Toronto Scarborough and Vice-President, University of Toronto, said The Navalar Nedunchezhiyan Lecture Series and the Navalar Nedunchezhiyan Tamil Literary Prize had been instituted with the help of two endowed funds gifted by a donor, who preferred to remain anonymous.
“Both funds are named after Tamil scholar and political figure V.R. Navalar Nedunchezhiyan, who would have celebrated his 100th birthday on July 11. Nedunchezhiyan was known for his oratory skills and speeches, which earned him the sobriquet Navalar, a reference to his rhetorical nature,” said Mr. Tettey.
He said that The Navalar Nedunchezhiyan Tamil Literary Prize would be awarded annually to an outstanding local or international scholar in the field of Tamil Studies. The inaugural award would be given after the completion of the Tamil Chair fund-raising initiative to create the first Chair in Tamil Studies at the University of Toronto Scarborough.
The Lecture Series will promote conversations around pluralism, multiculturalism, and inclusive global societies. The series would bring the brightest in their fields to share their ideas on how inclusive and resilient communities can help address contemporary issues that we face throughout the world.
