Ratnajeevan Hoole

Professor Samuel Ratnajeevan Herbert Hoole (born 15 September 1952; commonly known as Ratnajeevan Hoole) is a Sri Lankan Tamil engineer and academic. He was a member of the Election Commission of Sri Lanka.

Early life and family Hoole was born on 15 September 1952. He is the son of Rev. Richard Herbert Ratnathurai Hoole and Jeevamany Somasundaram. He was educated at Nallur CMS Practising School and St. John's College, Jaffna. He was offered a position to study at the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya in 1970 but as there were too many Tamil students at Peradeniya he was transferred to the Ceylon College of Technology, graduating from the University of Sri Lanka Katubedda campus in 1975 with a B.Sc degree in electrical engineering. He received a M.Sc. in electrical machines and power systems from the University of London in 1977 and a Ph.D. in electromagnetic field computation from Carnegie Mellon University in 1983.

Hoole is married to Dushyanthi Hoole, a fellow academic from the Michigan State University. They have three daughters (Mariyahl Mahilmany, Elisapeththu Elilini and Annahl Anbini) and a son (Yovahn Yesuraiyan Ratnajeevan). Hoole is a Christian and a member of the Church of Ceylon. He holds dual Sri Lankan and US citizenship. This led to him being threatened with disciplinary action by the University of Peradeniya authorities.

In January 2006 the senate of the University of Jaffna elected Hoole to be one of three nominees to be the university's vice-chancellor. In March 2006 President Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed Hoole as vice-chancellor. As soon as he was appointed Hoole started receiving threats from various Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fronts including the People's Uprising Force who said he would return home "headless in a box" if he took up the position. Hoole did not assume his duties on 15 March 2006 and his predecessor S. Mohanadas was appointed acting vice-chancellor. Hoole chose instead to work from outside Jaffna, appointing a deputy vice-chancellor and a head of Vavuniya campus. As the threats continued Hoole and his family left Sri Lanka 20 April 2006.

Hoole was visiting professor at Michigan State University (2006) and Drexel University (2006-08). However, this time President Rajapaksa did not appoint him vice-chancellor, choosing instead Vasanthy Arasaratnam.

During the 2011 local government elections in Sri Lanka Hoole documented and reported on violations of electoral law by the Eelam People's Democratic Party, a government backed paramilitary group led by government minister Douglas Devananda. After Devananda complained to the police about the "defamatory article", Hoole gave a statement to the police on 2 August 2011.

Hoole is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and chartered engineer. In 2012, Hoole held a professor affiliation at the department of electrical engineering at Michigan State University.