2026 – Dr V. Irai Anbu,
Dr V. Irai Anbu is a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, writer, and motivational speaker who served as the Chief Secretary to the Government of Tamil Nadu from May 2021 until his retirement in June 2023. Known for his honesty and discipline, he has written over 100 books in Tamil and English and remains a popular youth mentor.
2025 – Major General M.Indrabalan (Retd),
Major General M.Indrabalan (Retd), Former Chief of Staff – Dakshin Bharat Area, is a veteran of the Kargil War 1999. He has had a distinguished military career of 37 years. He holds a BSc, MSc, and an MPhil degree and is an alumnus of The College of Military Engineering and IIT Kharagpur.
2024 – Ms. Bhamathi IAS (Retd)
Ms.Bhamathi is a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer and former member of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT)
2023 – Dr. Kamakoti
Kamakoti Veezhinathan, a professor from the computer science and engineering department is the Director of IIT Madras. An alumnus of IIT Madras and an expert in artificial intelligence, he has been appointed as the head of the AI task force by the union commerce ministry and is also currently a member of the National Security Advisory Council
2022 – Gagandeep Singh Bedi
Gagandeep Singh Bedi is an Indian civil servant, currently serving as the Additional Chief Secretary (Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department) to the Government of Tamil Nadu in India. He is known for his crisis management and relief work at Cuddalore during the Tsunami in December 2004, the floods in 2015, and the restoration of peace in the aftermath of Thoothukudi violence in May 2018.
2021 – Dr.R. Natraj IPS
R. Nataraj, I.P.S. is a retired Indian Police Service officer, who also served as the former chairman of the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission. He is known for his public service career which spans over four decades, which further continued after his retirement as Director General of Police in 2011. He has been a part of the Central Reserve Police Force and has served in the difficult areas of North-East and Jammu and Kashmir. He was the first secretary of the Indian High Commission in Kathmandu from 1986 to 1990.
2019 – Akhila Srinivasan
Akhila Srinivasan is the Managing Director of the Shriram Group Shriram Life Insurance Company. She is also the founder of the Shriram Foundation, a philanthropic organization with a focus on education, micro-credit, and anti-poverty initiatives, and the founder and Managing Trustee of GiveLife, a related NGO focused on humanitarian projects.
2018 –Sashi Kumar
Sashi Kumar is an Indian journalist. He set up the Asian College of Journalism in Chennai, which is administered by the Media Development Foundation which he had founded.
2017 – C K Ranganathan
CK Ranganathan the Founder Chairman of CavinKare. A pioneer of innovation, Mr. Ranganathan has shaped the company to create innovative products by combining the best of nature and technology to improve the lifestyle of consumers. Under his inspiring leadership, the company, while expanding into Personal Care, also diversified into the Food, Beverages, Dairy, and Snacks categories, both in domestic and international markets. Mr. Ranganathan is one of the founding members of the Ability Foundation – an NGO working towards the rehabilitation of the physically challenged.
2016 – T N Manoharan
T N Manoharan is a chartered accountant, former president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), and Ex-chairman of Canara Bank, the fourth largest public sector bank in India.
2015 – Justice (Retd) Prabha Sridevan
Justice (Retd.) Prabha Sridevan served as a judge of the Madras High Court from 2000 to 2010. Post-retirement, she was appointed as the Chairperson of the IPAB (Intellectual Property Appellate Tribunal) from 2011 to 2013.
2014 – Sudha Raghunathan
Sudha Ragunathan is an Indian Carnatic vocalist, singer, and composer. Ragunathan has performed at the Madras Music Season every year since 1990. She is considered one of India’s leading Carnatic performers, She is the only Indian vocalist to have participated in the Global Vocal Meeting organized by the Burghof, an Academy of Music and Arts at Lorrach, Germany, and produced by Stimmen Voices International Vocal Festival.
2013 – R. Seshasayee
R. Seshasayee, Non-Executive Vice Chairman, Ashok Leyland Limited. He was the Executive Vice Chairman of Ashok Leyland in 2011, and was Non-Executive Vice Chairman, until July 2016. He has also served on the Boards of Infosys (as Chairman), ICICI Ltd / ICICI Bank, and NIT, Tiruchirappalli.
