ARSR Foundation – The Story
The ARSR foundation is the result of the vision and generosity of two scientists who wanted to try to help underprivileged children and adults in the areas of education and health care. The foundation helps children and adults with their educational needs with funding for tuition, fees, books, uniforms and meals. The foundation is also funding select health care causes and supporting Research and Development activities in specific fields. Most of the foundation’s funding is targeted to causes in India.
Here is a brief summary of the careers of the two scientists that have made this work possible.
Dr. Susila Ramamoorthy
Dr. Susila Ramamoorthy was born in India on December 19, 1938. She excelled throughout her education, getting the gold medal for top rank in high school in Chennai. She received her Bachelor’s of Science at Queen Mary’s College and her Master’s of Science at Presidency College, both in Chennai. She was one of the first women in India to complete her Doctorate in Physics at the Indian Institute of Science. She continued her studies with a post-doc in Uppsala, Sweden. On September 2, 1973, she married Dr. Anant Ramamoorthy, and moved to New Jersey.
She began her professional career at Brookhaven National Laboratory in 1977 in the National Light Light Source. While at Brookhaven, Susila continued her thirst for knowledge obtaining a Master’s in Computer Science from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Also, while at Brookhaven, Susila and her husband were actively involved in judging high school science fairs, and encouraging students to higher education. Susila retired in 2010, and moved to suburban Atlanta, Georgia with her husband. She continued to live in suburban Atlanta after the passing of her beloved husband. She and Dr. Anant Moorthy enjoyed traveling, watching game shows on television. or playing Scrabble with family and friends. She left us on Jan 20, 2021.
Dr Anant R Moorthy
Dr. Anant R Moorthy ( known to his family as Ramamoorthi) was born in Yangon (Rangoon), Myanmar (Burma) on June 27, 1937, as the last child in a family with four older brothers, and three older sisters. As part of the evacuation of Indians living in Myanmar during the peak of World War II, with the impending Japanese attack on Yangon, the family left for India in 1941 in one of the last few ships to sail out of Yangon. Ramoorthi settled with his family in the village of Gopalasamudram, Tirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu, where he had his primary and high school education. He finished his Intermediate education at the St. Xavier’s College, Palayamkottai before moving to Chennai (Madras) in 1955 and completed his bachelor’s in chemistry at the Vivekananda College, Mylapore.
After graduation, he joined the Atomic Research Center in Trombay at the outskirts of Mumbai (Bombay) India, and finished his master’s at the University of Mumbai (Bombay). He left for McGill University, Montreal, Canada for his Ph.D. in 1964. After a brief stint in St. Louis, Missouri, he took a position at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, Shoreham, New York. Married Susila in 1973, and after retirement, they settled in the outskirts of Atlanta in 2010. His favorite pastimes were playing cards, politics, snacking more than eating food and watching game shows. Amongst all the members of his family, he was the most jovial and witty. He left us on Dec 3, 2017.
