Celebrated educationist, Mithra G Augustine, dies

By George Cheriyan

Chennai, Feb 18, 2025: Mithra G Augustine, a former principal of Madras Christian College and director of the Ecumenical Christian Center, has died in Chennai. He was 95.

The death occurred in the early hours of February 18 at a Chennai hospital.

Mithra was born on June 25, 1930, at Guntur in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

He was attached with MCC in various capacities, first as a student, then warden of Bishop Heber Hall, professor and head of the Department of Zoology, eventually becoming the principal.

During his tenure as the principal, he oversaw the celebrations of the college’s 150th year of founding in 1987.

During the jubilee occasion, the college started its theological center – the Institute for Advanced Christian Studies – to address current societal issues from a Christian perspective.

Mithra was instrumental in commissioning the archives as a special unit when the college’s Miller Memorial Library was shifted to the new premises in 1982. Then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi opened the library.

After retiring from MCC, he joined the ecumenical center in Bengaluru as its director in 1990 and held the post for seven years. During this period, he also served as the general secretary of the Association of Christian Institutes for Social Concern in Asia under the Geneva-based World Council of Churches until 1997.

Mithra was a Fulbright – Smith Mundt and a Danforth Scholar. He obtained his doctorate in 1962 from Ohio State University, US. He was conferred Honorary Degree in Doctor of Laws by the Davidson College, North Carolina, US, in 1992 in recognition of his services to higher education in India.

He also had held several positions such as the chairman of the governing council of Christian Medical College , Vellore, president of the Association of Christian Colleges in India, member of the Council of United Theological College, Bengaluru, and trustee of the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia.

He was a member of several committees of the University Grants Commission, including with Narasimha Rao, then federal human resources minister, as a representative of Christian higher education institutions.