Siva Sivananthan

Professor Sivalingam Sivananthan is an American academic, scientist, businessman and Director of the Microphysics Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Early life and family Professor Sivananthan is escorted by E. Saravanapavan, Member of Parliament(Jaffna District), Principal & Staff of Jaffna Hindu College and well-wishers to deliver a guest lecture at the 73rd Commemoration Day and Achievers' Special Lecture Event of the Rotary Club of Jaffna, which was held at Jaffna Hindu College on 15 April 2014. Sivananthan was born in Madduvil South near Chavakachcheri in northern Ceylon. His father was a Tamil scholar from Valvettithurai and his mother was teacher of religion and science. After school he joined the University of Peradeniya's Science Faculty in 1976, graduating in 1980 with a BS degree in physics.

Career After graduating Sivananthan lectured at Eastern University, Sri Lanka before joining the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1982 for post-graduate study. Sivananthan is also founder and CEO of Sivananthan Laboratories Inc. based in Bolingbrook, Illinois. In 2010 he was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society for "seminal contributions to the growth technology of II-VI photovoltaic materials.".