DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY

HISTORY

Department of Botany was established as a separate Department in 1967. Till that day Botany was taught at the pre- degree level. It had a built up area of 496sq.m and now having an area of 2156 sq.m. In the beginning the student strength was 26 and currently there are 128 students of which106are girls and 22 boys

The programme offered by the department is Bachelor of Science in Botany. The duration of course was 3 years and till May 2010, there was annual examination at the end of each academic year. Currently the programme is named as First Degree Programme in Botany having a duration of three years which consists of six semesters. The students are evaluated on the basis of a series of test as a part of continuous evaluation and an end semester examination conducted by the university.

Bachelor’s degree in Botany course is conducted with the following objectives

1. To make the students familiarize with the living world especially the plant around us

2. To get an idea about the local flora

3. To get the basic knowledge about a crop through its taxonomic study and which forms the foundation for the development of agriculture and thereby food security

4.To enrich the students with the latest developments in the field of tissue culture, biotechnology, gene transfer, bioinformatics etc.

5. Understand and appreciate the role of biology in social issues, such as the environment and biological resources, biodiversity, ethics, human health and diseases

Succession List of HODs

1. Prof S. Padma (1967-1974) was the first Head of the Department and served for seven years.
2. Prof. N. VasuPillai (1974- 1979) succeeded Prof.S. Padma
3. Prof. N. Ravi (1979- 1981) served as theHead of the Department for a period of two years.
4. Prof. K.N. Chithra (1981- 1988) succeededProf. N. Ravi and was HOD for a long period of eight years.
5. Dr. B. Vijayavalli (1988-1989) was Head for only one year.She took PhD in Cytology
6. Prof. K.N. Chithra (1989- 1993) again became the Head of the Department. She was the one who had the credit of being the HOD with longest duration in the department.
7. Smt. Kanthamony became the Head for two years from 1994- 1996.
8. M.Mrinalinidevi (1996-1999) succeeded bySmt. Kanthamony and served three years.
9. Sri. D. Devarajan (2000- 2001)served as Head of the Department for only one year.
10. M.Mrinalinidevi (2001- 2002) once again became the Head of the Department for one more year.
11. Smt. K. Usha (2002- 2005) served as HOD for three years
12. Smt. A.J. Lekha (2005- 2006) succeeded Smt. K. Usha
13. Smt.Satheedevi. A was HOD from 2007- 2008.
14. Smt. C. Geethakumari (2008- 2010) succeededSmt.Satheedevi. She served for two years as HOD and retired from service in 2010.
15. Dr.L.S.Mini(2010-2012) was HOD for two years and her area of specialization was Cytology.
16. Dr. A.HaneesaBeevi (2012- 2013) served as HOD and her area of specialization was Palynology.
17. Dr. L.S.Mini (2014 – 2017) served as HOD for three years.
18. Dr.HimaR (2017 onwards) as the Head of the Department