Aiyasami Jayaraman

Our loving father, Aiyasami Jayaraman, passed away on 1 April 2022 in Phoenix at the age of 95. He was surrounded by close family members.

Born 5 December 1926, Jayaraman was a brilliant physicist. His career started under the guidance of C. V. Raman at the Raman Institute in Bangalore, where he earned his PhD. In 1960 he emigrated to the US. He spent a few years at UCLA before joining Bell Labs in 1963. He had a productive scientific career at Bell Labs until his retirement in 1990. He then joined the University of Hawaii as a visiting professor. After five years in Hawaii, he officially retired and moved to Tampa, Florida.

Jayaraman was a great lover of and lifelong student of Carnatic music. He and his wife hosted many legendary Carnatic musicians and other artists. He also was one of the pioneers in bringing those artists to the US through the Bharathi Society of New York. He was a gentle, kind, and loving man who touched everyone he met. He had many interests. His legacy will live on in the scientific community and through all those that he encountered. He will be greatly missed by all his family and friends. He was preceded in death by his wife of 68 years, Kamala (died 23 February 2014), and his grandson, Arjun (2 January 2006). He is survived by daughters, Geetha Mani (Ganpat) and Chitra Narayanan (Vinodh), grandsons, Vasant (Joanna) and Mohan, his granddaughter Seetha (Garrett) and his great grandchildren Vikram and Lilly.