Page 23 - Keralite Magazine _2020

KERALITE  APRIL 20 20 35

Dr. Narayanan Madhavan

December 25, 1925 – February 22, 2020

Dr. Narayanan Madhavan, remembered fondly as
Madhavan Chettan, was a leader in the Malayalee
community in southeast Michigan and the
co-founder of the Kerala Club of Detroit. He served
as the first president of Kerala Club in 1975, and
again as president in 1989. Madhavan Chettan also
contributed to the club and the greater Malayalee
Chandrachoodan Narayanan
community in many other ways.

Madhavan Chettan was born in Thundathil Veedu,
Vakkom, Kadakkavur, in the southern part of Kerala.
He was born to Shri. Narayanan and Shreemathi
Anantha. His siblings are Shri. N. Balakrishnan, Shri.
Nadesan and Shreemathi Vanajakshi. Chettan
married Indira in 1961.

As far as his education was concerned, Chettan had
meritorious achievements. He was a Gold Medalist
in B.Sc. Chemistry at Thevara College, Cochin. He
then joined Sree Narayana College in Kollam as a
demonstrator in chemistry. From there Chettan
went to Banares Hindu University, Varanasi and
received his M.Sc. degree in Physical Chemistry. He
came back to Sree Narayana College, Kollam as a
lecturer. and later transferred to Sree Narayana
College, Kannur as Head of the Department of
Chemistry. It was during this time that Madhavan
chettan started applying to Ph.D. programs abroad.
Chettan received a scholarship from McGill
University, Montreal, Canada, to pursue a Ph.D. in
Physical Chemistry. When his professor accepted a
position at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada,