History
The Department of Mathematics strives for academic excellence through the quality teaching and research by setting a conducive atmosphere to the students , pooling the resources and expertise through unity, ardent commitment and hardwork of the teachers to inspire the students for Holy Crossians of excellence.
In 1933, the Department of Mathematics in Holy Cross College started at the intermediate level. The first chair of the department was Miss. Bagheeradi Ammal and later Prof. P.S.Sundaresan. From 1937, Mathematics was introduced as one of the main subjects in the B.A. degree courses, headed by Prof. R. Natesan. The Department of Mathematics has been key instrument for multifaceted Empowerment of women with knowledge since the introduction of the PUC in 1956 and the three-year degree course in 1957.
From 1949 to 1979, the department was headed by Rev. Sr. Electa effectively by instilling moral and ethical values through dedicated and committed service, along with the band of staff. Her remarkable contribution was the installation of an advanced Telescope for the department to train the students in the observational part of Astrophysics. The department has been offering inter-disciplinary subjects and extending its service since 1964 to the departments of Economics (PG), Zoology (PG), and Commerce with Economical statistics, Bio-statistics, and Business Mathematics and Business Statistics respectively.
Mrs.Melucina Vasanthan contributed remarkably by introducing the UG (1991) and PG (1994) Programmes during her tenure as Head of the Department from 1979 to 1998. The Autonomous status enabled the department to re-assemble the syllabus to meet the needs of the society. Since 1994, under her direction the department has been Organizing Programme Centre for School Teachers Orientation.
One of the important occurrences in the department was the privilege of conducting the ‘First Phase of the Question Bank Workshop’ sponsored by the UGC from 24 th October to 26 th October 1996 under the co-ordinatorship of Mrs. Melucina Vasanthan. The discourse in the workshop by the team of experts on different types of questions in various courses like Real Analysis, Complex Analysis, and Graph Theory was a great academic contribution. In view of Platinum Jubilee Celebrations, the department had the opportunity to coordinate a week-long "Refresher Course” in Mathematics and Science subjects for school teachers.
Mrs. Hannah Vijayakumar, being the first doctoral graduate in “Numerical Analysis" took the headship of the Mathematics Department from 1998 to 2007. Her considerable degree of ambition, vision and dedication to improve the quality of the department was appreciable.
In 2007, Mrs. Manju Purusothaman, succeeded Mrs. Hannah Vijayakumar as the department Head. She aimed to broaden and maintained the excellent standard in teaching and research and she encouraged the Staff Members towards high-quality education. She was one of the members for the TNPSC question paper setting, in Chennai. During her period, Mrs.Joy Jona, Associate Professor, undertook and successfully completed a minor project on statistical analysis of agricultural commodities in five specified villages of Mannachannallur Block, Trichy District from 2008 to 2010 and Dr.W.Ritha, Assistant Professor completed a minor project in Fuzzy Queues and a student project on “Environmental impact of Tourism using Fuzzy Set theory”. UGC sanctioned Rs.5.75 lakhs for a major project proposed by her on the Study of the Fuzzy Inventory model, which she planned out meticulous and completed successfully.
From 2010- 2013, Ms. Imelda Samathanam Evangeline took over as the head of the department. In keeping with our vision and mission of collective progress, she encouraged peer learning in the classrooms, discipline behavior among Students and value-based input sessions which inculcated mutual respect and responsibilities among the Student Community. In her tenure, under the coordination of Dr.W.Ritha, the department had a rapid up-gradation in research area and received the Research status in 2012 also she received Rs. 8,75,000 under the Major Project which resulted the Computer laboratory equipped with 30 systems having internet connectivity.
From 2013 to 2016, Dr. Maheswari, Associate Professor headed the department. During her tenure M.Phil. Program was initiated successfully in 2016. Dr. Maheswari was loved and honoured by students and professors for her compassionate managerial approach in the department.
From 2016 to 2019, Dr. Lilly Robert, Associate Professor assumed the responsibilities as the head of the department leading the department further towards academic excellence. PG Additional Section was initiated under her able guidance. She also successfully completed a UGC Minor Research Project on Queuing theory.
From 2019 to 2022, Dr. W.Ritha, Assistant Professor headed the department. She has produced 22 Ph.D. Research scholars among which 8 are staff members of the department,2 submitted their thesis and she is currently guiding 6 scholars. She has published more than 311 papers in various reputed journals, given numerous invited lectures in her field of expertise, and filed 5 patents. All the staff members of the department are highly involved in research among whom many of them have completed their Ph.D. and are also research supervisors who share their knowledge and transfer it to the academic sectors through publications, patents, books and they have also received various awards in academic and research areas.
Training was also provided to equip the faculty with the skill set to frame the syllabi and competencies to employ innovative evaluation methods pertaining to various cognitive level of the Revised Blooms' Taxonomy. This ensured the attainment of the “Learning Outcomes” enlisted in the syllabus.
Dr. M. Mary Mejrullo Merlin, Assistant Professor, the present head of the department, a systematic planner cum executor, is innovatively leading the staff and students to attain a very good level in the Outcome Based Education (OBE) pattern and various Teaching Methodologies in the name of Math 7TM, 8TM. She has facilitated as Visiting Faculty in Salesian College, Siliguri, West Bengal University in May 2022 for teaching the Undergraduate Students and to conduct Staff Training Sessions on RBT and Lesson Plan Writing. Also, she initiated Collaborative Ventures with West Bengal University and neighbouring Institutes.
As part of an extension Programme, many of our students participated in state-level tournaments and some in inter-collegiate and inter-district level tournaments. Four Students of I UG have been selected for ‘Summer School for Women in Mathematics and Statistics’, International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Bangalore.
To provide continuous coaching for Competitive Examinations to Holy Cross and other Students, Sr Electa Math Academy was initiated in March 2024. The 30 Hour Certificate Courses will be conducted in two levels coaching for Intermediate Level and Advanced Levels.
In the academic year 2024-2025, in order to promote and nourish the academic excellence, research aptitude, guidance and coaching for Competitive Examinations, Value system, Positivity, Physical and Mental well- being, the Department has four Domain Clubs namely Mathematics Association, Genius Club, Ramanujan Wisdom Club, Math Research Forum and four Non- Curriculum Clubs namely Math Positive Pathway Club, Ethos Driven Math Club, Math Ethnic Enrichment Club and Math Physical Recreation Club. At Present, the Department has 16 dedicated Staff Members, among whom 11 are Doctorates and 7 Research guides and 320 enthusiastic Students.
Vision
The Department of Mathematics strives to be internationally recognized for academic excellence through the depth of its teaching and research, and to be locally relevant through its role in the development of the community it serves.
Mission
The mission of the Mathematics department is to provide an environment where students can learn and become competent users of mathematics and mathematical application. Moreover, the department will contribute to the development of students as mathematical thinkers, enabling them to become lifelong learners, to continue to grow in their chosen professions, and to function as productive citizens.