Professor A. Thurairajah
அ. துரைராசா
2nd Vice-Chancellor of the University of Jaffna
In office September 1988 – April 1994
Preceded by	S. Vithiananthan
Succeeded by	K. Kunaratnam
Personal details
Born	(1934-11-10)10 November 1934 Kamparmalai, Ceylon
Died	11 June 1994(1994-06-11) (aged 59) Colombo, Sri Lanka
Alma mater	Udupiddy AMC Hartley College University of Ceylon University of Cambridge
Profession	Academic
Ethnicity	Sri Lankan Tamil

Alagiah Thurairajah ( Tamil: அழகையா துரைராசா, romanized: Aḻakaiyā Turairācā; 10 November 1934 – 11 June 1994) was a Sri Lankan academic and vice-chancellor of the University of Jaffna.

Thurairajah was born on 10 November 1934 in Kamparmalai in northern Ceylon. ^{[1] [2]} He was the son of Velupillai Alagiah and Sellammah from Imaiyanan in Vadamarachchi. ^[1] He was educated at the Udupiddy American Mission College and Hartley College. ^{[1] [2]} After completing school he commenced studies at the University of Ceylon in July 1953, graduating with a BSc degree in civil engineering in 1957. ^{[1] [2]}

Thurairajah then served as an instructor in civil engineering at the university until March 1958 when he started working for the Public Works Department as a Junior Assistant Engineer for four months. ^[2] He then went to the University of Cambridge on a scholarship after Kenneth H. Roscoe chose him to be his research student. ^[2] Between October 1958 and December 1961 Thurairajah assisted Roscoe in his research into shear properties of soils. ^{[1] [2]} This research earned Thurairajah a PhD in June 1962 with a thesis titled Some shear properties of kaolin and of sand. ^{[1] [2]}

Thurairajah married Rajeswari. ^[1] They had three daughters and two sons. ^{[1] [2]} His younger son, Alahesh Thurairajah continued the Legacy of his father and earned a great reputation in geotechnical community. He is currently serving as President and Principal of a Geotechnical Firm ' Earth Mechanics, Inc.', based near Los Angeles, California.

After Cambridge Thurairajah worked in London for a company called Terreasearch Ltd for a while in 1962 before returning to Ceylon. ^{[1] [2]} He joined the University of Ceylon as a lecturer. ^{[1] [2]} He was visiting assistant professor at the University of Waterloo before becoming Professor of Civil Engineering in 1971 at the University of Ceylon. ^{[1] [2]} He was Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the Peradeniya Campus of the University of Sri Lanka from May 1975 to September 1977, and February 1982 to February 1985. ^{[1] [2] [3]} He was visiting professor at the University of British Columbia between October 1977 and December 1978. ^{[1] [2]} He was Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the Open University of Sri Lanka from April 1987 to August 1988. ^{[1] [2]}

Thurairajah became vice-chancellor of the University of Jaffna in September 1988. ^{[1] [2] [4]} He resigned in March 1994 on medical grounds. ^{[1] [2]}

Thurairajah moved to Colombo for treatment and re-joined the Open University. ^[1] He died on 11 June 1994 in Colombo due to cardiovascular failure brought about by leukaemia. ^{[1] [2]} He was posthumously awarded the Maamanithar (Great Man) honour by the LTTE Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. ^[5]

Thurairajah was a fellow of the National Academy of Sciences (Sri Lanka) from 1977; Institution of Civil Engineers (Sri Lanka) from 1979; and the Institution of Civil Engineers (UK) from May 1985. ^{[1] [2]} He was president of the National Academy of Sciences (Sri Lanka) in 1986. ^[1] He was president of the Institution of Civil Engineers (Sri Lanka) between October 1989 to October 1990. ^[2] He was an expert on soil engineering. ^[6]

• Mamanithar Prof. Alagiah Thurairajah, Eelam View