Samuel Sudanandha (Elementary Tamil, 2008) His studies began at Madurai Kamaraj University in India. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a Master of Arts in Tamil Language and Literature. At the University of Washington, Seattle he received his PhD in Anthropology.

Sudanandha's teaching experiences include being the Professor in charge of teaching Tamil Literature to candidates of the Indian Civil Service Examination in Madurai, India and as a professorship of Tamil at the University of Wisconsin Year in India Program. In 2006 he retired from his position as the Undergraduate Department of Tamil at the American College, Madurai, India. He is currently teaching at Columbia University. Sudanandha has over thirty years of experience teaching. He has also taught Tamil at SASLI in 2004. Sudanandha has received many fellowships and awards; among them, a Fellowship at the Department of Anthropology at the University of Washington in 1989. He has presented many papers, and organized a number of symposia.