Prof. SVM Satyanarayana was born in Macherla, Andhra Pradesh in 1971. He completed
his Ph.D. at IGCAR, Kalpakkam (Tamil Nadu). He subsequently joined as a Scientific
Officer at IGCAR in 1998. He did a Post-doc at Forschungszentrum Julich, Germany.
Since 2006, he was a faculty member of Physics at Pondicherry University. He was an
outstanding physics teacher and was well known in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka
for his Physics teaching.
In 1996, while doing his Ph.D., he started a free “Sunday Class” at the Nuclear Physics
Department, Madras University. He taught all subjects ranging from Mathematical
Physics, Classical Mechanics, Electrodynamics, Statistical Mechanics, Condensed
Matter Physics, Nuclear Physics, etc. Students from colleges in and around Chennai as
well as from distant places attended his classes. Every Sunday, he taught from 10 am to
5 pm and it was open to all. Since 1996, he was continuously running the class until the
year 2022 when he was diagnosed with an advanced stage of cancer. It was a
remarkable achievement for him to be running the class for more than 25 years on
Sundays.

In this long period, many generations of physics students immensely benefitted from
his Sunday classes and now they are all working in various research institutes,
Universities, and Colleges across the country. He also placed great importance on
developing problem-solving skills and imparting an in-depth understanding of the
subject. As a result, more than hundreds of students qualified in exams such as CSIRNET, GATE, JEST, TIFR-GS, PG TRB after attending his Sunday classes. It is noteworthy
that most of these students came from very humble backgrounds and were firstgeneration graduates. In that sense, the Sunday class transformed the lives of many
students.
Additionally, Prof. Satyanarayana invited eminent Physicists Prof. G. Rajasekaran, Prof.
H.S Mani, and Prof. Kamales Kar to the Sunday class and they also taught in the Sunday
class for several years. Prof. KPN Murthy and Prof. A.K. Kapoor also taught for a brief
period of time. The “Sunday Class” was like heaven for students who love physics. He
also gave lectures at various colleges in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra
Pradesh. Throughout his entire life, he was very enthusiastic to teach students and
teachers, which tremendously improved the quality of physics education in these
states. After 2021, his health deteriorated very rapidly due to advanced stage cancer
and he finally passed away on September 16, 2023. He made a strong imprint in the
history of Physics education in South IndiaProf. SVM Satyanarayana was born in Macherla, Andhra Pradesh in 1971. He completed
his Ph.D. at IGCAR, Kalpakkam (Tamil Nadu). He subsequently joined as a Scientific
Officer at IGCAR in 1998. He did a Post-doc at Forschungszentrum Julich, Germany.
Since 2006, he was a faculty member of Physics at Pondicherry University. He was an
outstanding physics teacher and was well known in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka
for his Physics teaching.
In 1996, while doing his Ph.D., he started a free “Sunday Class” at the Nuclear Physics
Department, Madras University. He taught all subjects ranging from Mathematical
Physics, Classical Mechanics, Electrodynamics, Statistical Mechanics, Condensed
Matter Physics, Nuclear Physics, etc. Students from colleges in and around Chennai as
well as from distant places attended his classes. Every Sunday, he taught from 10 am to
5 pm and it was open to all. Since 1996, he was continuously running the class until the
year 2022 when he was diagnosed with an advanced stage of cancer. It was a
remarkable achievement for him to be running the class for more than 25 years on
Sundays.

In this long period, many generations of physics students immensely benefitted from
his Sunday classes and now they are all working in various research institutes,
Universities, and Colleges across the country. He also placed great importance on
developing problem-solving skills and imparting an in-depth understanding of the
subject. As a result, more than hundreds of students qualified in exams such as CSIRNET, GATE, JEST, TIFR-GS, PG TRB after attending his Sunday classes. It is noteworthy
that most of these students came from very humble backgrounds and were firstgeneration graduates. In that sense, the Sunday class transformed the lives of many
students.
Additionally, Prof. Satyanarayana invited eminent Physicists Prof. G. Rajasekaran, Prof.
H.S Mani, and Prof. Kamales Kar to the Sunday class and they also taught in the Sunday
class for several years. Prof. KPN Murthy and Prof. A.K. Kapoor also taught for a brief
period of time. The “Sunday Class” was like heaven for students who love physics. He
also gave lectures at various colleges in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra
Pradesh. Throughout his entire life, he was very enthusiastic to teach students and
teachers, which tremendously improved the quality of physics education in these
states. After 2021, his health deteriorated very rapidly due to advanced stage cancer
and he finally passed away on September 16, 2023. He made a strong imprint in the
history of Physics education in South India.