Upcoming Alumni Events

News Headlines
(Details in Archive.)

Great to inform you all that Dr. A. M. Chacko will be our new manager. More details

Botany alumni Reunion 2009 and dedication of TCJ Garden

Botany alumni reunion was well attended. Rt. Rev. Dr. Zacharias Mar Theophilus Safragan Metropolitan, (B. Sc. Botany 1957 – '59 and member of Union Christian College Standing Council) lead the dedication ceremony of TCJ Botanic Garden. In his key note address, Thirumeni highlighted the significance of Indian concept of worshiping nature, particularly plants. Thirumeni reminded us that the fullness of life is in having memories and dreams. Read the full story

Botanical Garden Photo Tour

UCC MCA Hosts Fulbright Scholars

The Department of Mathematics and Computer pplications of UCC recently hosted the Fulbright scholars from the US. Congratulations to Prof. Ushadevi Kunjamma and MCA team for their continuing efforts that made this possible.

New Leaders for UCCAANA

Congratulations to Dr. James Jacob and Dr. Simon Thomas, the newly elected President and Vice President of UCC Alumni Association of North America.

Subhadra Teacher is the New Web Coordinator

Congratulations to Subhadra teacher, a member of the UCC Physics faculty for her appointment as the new web coordinator of the academic web site.

Congratulations to M. A / M. Sc Rank Holders and Ph. D. Awardees from UCC 2008

Hearty Congratulations to Bincy, Anju, Prashobh, Anila teacher and Girija teacher !  Read the story

Condolences to Prof. O.M. Mathen
We are very sorry to inform you about the demise of Mrs.Annamma Mathen, wife of Prof. O.M. Mathen, former principal and head of the Department of Botany.

The funeral will take place on Thursday, December 6, 2008 at 2 pm. in Mary's
Cathedral Manarkadu, Kottayam. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family.

Condolences to Dr. Varghese John
Sorry to inform you about the sad demise of Mrs. Rachel John (78), mother of Dr. Varghese John, Principal of UCC. For the past two weeks, she
had been in an unconscious stage after suffering from a stroke.

Mrs. Rachel John is also an old student of UCC. So, we have more than one connection to her. Funeral was held at St George Orthodox Church Chepad at 11.30 am on Saturday, October 25, 2008.

May her soul rest in peace. We extend our condolences to Dr. Varghese John and his family and pray that God strengthen them to overcome this big loss.

Sosamma Philip Memorial Endowment Scholarship for the needy students of Botany established. Details

DNA Lab at UC College
A Fruit of the Collaboration between Hope College and UC College Details

Two Alumni Inducted to UCC Alumni Forum Moderatorship
M.S. Girija, Retd. Deputy Director of Collegiate Education and an alumnus of the college (1966-73) and Sunil Sivanand, MD and Chief Technology Architect, Acette Technologies, Dubai and an alumnus of the college (1970-73) were appointed to the Board of Moderators of UCC Alumni Forum. (Details)

Lectures by Dr. K. R. Krishnamoorthy
The Department of Botany organized two lectures by Mr. K. R. Krishnamoorthy, a distinguished old student of our college (former General Manager (Marketing Division) Glaxo Smith Kline) on Monday, February 4, 2008.

Dr. K. R K. Moorthy studied Physics, Chemistry, and Maths for the university at UC College in early 50s. He held several distinguished positions. He is also a great thinker, writer and speaker. Dr. Moorthy has spoken virtually hundreds of times and has a long list of publications. Take a look at his resume and a list of publications here.

Dr. Moorthy delivered 2 lectures:

1. Communication (Basics, Report writing and Public speaking)

2. Leadership, most talked, least understood (Essentials of Organizational Structure, Leadership and organizational change)

Dr.V.K.Alexander Memorial Seminar and Psychology Alumni Reunion

On February 9, 2008, the Department of Psychology held Dr. V. K. Alexander Memorial Seminar and Old students reunion. Dr. P. J. Sasi, Clinical Psychologist, delivered the V. K. Alexander Memorial Lecture.

Botany Reunion 2008 a Grand Success
The Botany reunion this year was well attended. The special features of the day was the establishment of an endowment that allows poor students to participate in the programs; a DNA lab for future research; and the unveilment of several new projects. The keynote lecturer, Jacob Philipose, exhorted all alumni to start emptying from half full cup. He remembered with gratitude all the goodness that he imbibed from UCC. Detailed Report

Botany Reunion 2008 Photos

Reunion day 2007
The College celebrated the Old Students' Reunion Day on Saturday, 10th November, 2007. The day started with a thanksgiving service in the college chapel at 9.30 a.m. Rev. P.T. Thomas  gave the message. The keynote speaker in the public meeting at 10 a.m. was Sri. Varkala Radhakrishnan M.P., a distinguished alumnus. Read more ...

Founders' day address 2007
His Grace Most Rev. Dr. Joseph Mar Thoma Metropolitan recollected a number of happy moments when he studied in UCC during 1950-54. He refered about the changes in the value system in different areas of higher education. Details.

Marching from Micro to Nano
A Lecture given by Dr. Simon Thomas, a UC College alumnus (M.Sc. Physics, 1961-63 batch) in the Dept of Physics on 13th August 2007. Dr. Thomas also inaugurated the activities of the Physics Association 2007 - '08.

Mission Accomplished. Prof. Leelamma returns to India after a successful US Trip. Details
Summary Report on Dr. Leelamma's trip to USA

UC College Signed a Historic MOU with Hope College, Holland, MI

Founders Day 2006

Reunion-2006

Charlotte Erickson Returns to US

Prof. T. C. Joseph Botanic Garden

Rank Holders from UC College - 2006

Mr. Eldo Varghese Made Permanent Faculty

UB Approves Two Additional Projects

UC College Alumni Association of North America Registered and Approved

UCC International House & Alumni Development Office

Distinguished Alumnus of College Donates $10,000

US visit of Dr. Kuriachen

Department of Physics Meeting on March 19, 2006

UC College Faculty Members Receive Grant from ISRO

Class of 2006 Alumni Have Been Inducted

Dr. K.E. Leelamma's US Reception and Her Letter

College Celebrates Reunion Day 2005

Thomas Joseph Memorial Endowment Fund at UCC

UC College Establishes the Alumni Development Office

More News

Faculty News
Featured Faculty and alumni in the news.

Enhancing the elearning environment of UCC
Prof. V. K. Subhadra of the Dept of Physics and her team are collaborating with the Centre for Environmental Studies of UCC to develop innovative computer based teaching- learning techniques to enhance the e-learning environment of class rooms. more

Dr. M. Anil Kumar attends the National Conference of Indian Academy of Sciences

Mr. Sreejith, Research Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences, To Collaborate with UCC

Finding the Core and Essence of a Unique College
Dr. P. Thomas Mathew, Dept of Botany, to speak at the UB Fellows Leadership Seminar at Bangkok.

Ph. D. Awarded to Two UCC Faculty
Mr. Lopez Mathew (Faculty in Chemistry) and Mrs. Sonia Chacko (Faculty in English) were awarded Ph. D. from MG University. more

Dr. M. Anil Kumar Joins the Faculty of the Department of Botany.
Dr. Anil's research interests include Cytology, Biochemistry, Bioinformatics, Tissue culture, Molecular Biology, Phytochemistry, and floriculture. more

Dr. K.E. Leelamma completes 30 years Service at UCC
more

Prof. TM Mathew Passes Away

UCCAANA's Blog

http://uccaana.blogspot.com

Articles

On Prof. Anantharaman- my father and my teacher by Trikur Ramanarayanan
After reading the moving and compelling article by JP on my father, Prof. Anantharaman, I feel the urge to pen a few lines of my recollection of my father (also my teacher) touching on the ‘Anantharaman mantra’, so eloquently expounded by JP, and his role as a teacher in the class room. I am very grateful to JP for bringing out vividly and truthfully the characteristics of my father. As I join with him in extolling my father, I do so not as a son praising his father, but as a student praising his teacher.

Story of a Father
Caught between serving the nation at time of war and being with the family when the first born was going through a serious health crisis, Major Jacob Philipose had to make a choice. He did. This article appeared in Vanitha in February 1999. In JP's own words, "I was at the bottom of the pit when the incident described here has happened. Some of you may have gone through or may be going through similar or even worse experience in life. If this will give you inspiration to stand your ground when calamities strike, I will say "mission accomplished"." JP is one of the distinguished sons of UC College.(1951-55) Article in Malayalam in pdf format.

Christian Identity In A Secular World
To many people, Christian higher education is associated with academic excellence and service to humankind. One can understand why Christians would think this way, but what is remarkable is that a good number of non-Christians in countries where Christianity is a minority religion also think so. Christian higher education has impacted many lives and indirectly exerted a significant influence in many societies. The men and women who went through Christian higher education may not become Christians, but they often learn Christian values that affect the way they view the world and make important decisions.
Read the full article

Liberate the Liberal Arts: Contrasting Kerala’s and United States’ Liberal Arts Colleges
Educational sociologists have argued that it is not content, but structure which forms the mind of a student. An education that glorifies authoritarian class environments, rote learning, and streamlined courses denies the growth of young people into analytical, creative, and well-rounded citizens.

Elizabeth Chatelain, an adult volunteer at UCC, examines the educational system in Kerala and contrasts it with that in the US. Her observations and insights are worth reading and pondering by all those who take their educational vocation seriously in the India context.

The Story of an An Eminent Student of UCC
Union Christian College had not only famous and dedicated staff but also had famous students. So this is what I know about one of such famous old students.

Priceless Value of Freedom
Sunil Sivanand reflects on the price of freedom after returning from a visit to Tehran, Iran in 2005. His story at the end about Neil Bohr, the famous physicist, is well worth reading even if you don't care about the political issues.

Remembrance Day in Canada (known as Veterans Day in USA)
Jacob K Philipose, Calgary, Canada
I am pouring my heart out for my dead comrades from distant Canada. A great article by a special alumnus.

Down the Memory Lane
Jacob Samuel, B.Sc. Botany, second batch (1954-56), goes down the memory lane. What a journey it is! A must read article.

Finding the Core and Essence of a Unique College
by P. Thomas Mathew, Depart. of Botany
It would have been easy for UC College to develop a vision that would transform itself into an economically profitable proposition. But the college has chosen to keep itself engaged in a debate involving core values. Plans for the future will not be controlled by the promise of profit. The original ethos, history and political essence of the college will prevail.

Master Before Us ‘Who Went About Doing Good’
Recalling the vision of the founders of UCC, Rev. Thomas John briefly summarized the duty of Christians as `not to be ministered unto, but to minister'. more

Memories of India
This is the memories of Charlotte Erickson, the young adult volunteer that served UC College from 2005-6 after her return to the US. A well written article. Enjoy.

Books/Pamphlets

Special Feature

Standing Behind the Promise:
A Distinguished Alumnus Making it Whole

The name Dr. K.C. Chacko is familiar to most of us. The first thing that comes to our minds when we hear that name is his love for the alma mater, UC College. Dr. Chacko had the privilege of working under the founders of the college and he knows first hand what their vision was for the college. He learned that it is better to give than to talk big and not following up.

One of the long cherished dream of KC (as he is called by his friends) is the International House. KC knows that before a college can become a world class institution, it need to have the logistics to support it. In this global age, visitors need a place to stay comfortably in a place that has state of the art communication systems available. Plus, you need conferencing facilities to communicate with outside world. International House is designed to have all these. Recently, the college GB has approved this project. (See Details here.) The project also has the support of several outside organizations.

Recently (December 2007), KC has donated $10,000.00 towards this project. He hopes that the rest of the alumni will take his lead and donate generously to make this project a reality.

In the past, Dr. Chacko contributed $5000 to the college. The primary purpose of this donation was to help college in funding expenses involved in international linkages and to fund the operation of the alumni office.

Dr. Chacko was very hesitant to publicize this information; I had convinced him that by making this public, we may motivate other alumni to come forward and to do his/her share to the college. One of Dr. Chacko's pet projects is the UCC Directory Project. He hopes to see that come to come to fruition soon. (see below)

Dr. Chacko wants everyone to know that you can now donate money to the college through AANA, the North American Chapter of the UCC Alumni Association that has got full Non Profit Organization Registration from the Internal Revenue Service. So, all donations made through AANA may be tax deductible (but check with your tax advisor to be sure.)

Class photo of Dr. K.C. Chacko

More Information about tax benefits of donating through AANA can be found here.

Alumni Directory

Union Christian College is currently preparing an alumni directory. This directory will help us to communicate with you more effectively and to get your valuable feedback on future activities of the college. If you are an alumnus of the college, please visit college academic website (www.uccollege.edu.in) and complete the form there. It will only take a few minutes of your time. Thank you.

New UC College Alumni Yahoo Group to Streamline Communications

Have you heard about the new UC College Alumni Group? It had been the "talk of the town" lately. Lot of excitement about the old friends meeting each other electronically. The principal and several of the management team members of the college also contributes to this forum regularly.

If you are not a member of this group, you are missing a lot. The membership is free and is open to all UC College alumni, faculty, and friends. You can also join if you are a current student enrolled in UC College (gives you a head start of being an alumnus!) You can join by entering your email below and clicking on the the "Join Now" button.

Ask your friends to join too. If you are sending email inviting them to join, ask them to join by sending an email to:
uccalumni-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Thank you.

Academic Website of the College

UC College academic website gives detailed information about the college, academic programs, faculty, administration etc. The address of this website is: www.uccollege.edu.in If you want to know about the courses offered, the departments, faculty, admission materials etc., please visit that website.