I only knew Malathi professionally, but she made sure her personality shined through her work and interactions with those around her. I knew her as a sharp person, strong in her resolve, but more than that - exuding of passion. In my interactions with her she demonstrated a never ending curiosity, and sought to share everything she knew with everyone she could. A professor who truly cared about her students/colleagues, and knew how/when to push them. Best wishes MV, may your family find peace, and you rest knowing your legacy is being pushed forward by the many lives impacted by your interactions. Thank you for introducing me to cyber security and many great people, 

I just learned of MV's passing and share my belated condolences to her family and friends. I knew her for too short a time and was hugely impressed by her energy, passion, creativity, and intelligence. Such a loss to the world. Best - Von

I am shocked to hear the news. Malathi was younger sister of our classmate Revathi Veeraghavan who studied chemistry with us in Ravenshaw college Cuttack Orissa. Malathi was our junior in college. A cute little girl still I remember. May her soul rest in peace.

Shocked to hear about the untimely demise of Malathi Veeraraghavan
Her elder sister Revathi was my classmate at St Joseph's Girl's High school Cuttack Odisha
My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family

I had known Malathi and her sister Revathi  (my classmate) during the college days in Cuttack, Odisha, India. She was very bright. It is a great loss to UVA and thousands of students she inspired. 

I just learned of Malathi's passing. I'm so sorry at your loss - she was someone very special professionally and as a person.

I was so sorry to hear of Malathi's death. We touched base a few years back concerning how to best preserve her scholarship. Please accept my deepest condolences for your family's loss.

I feel so grateful to have enjoyed Malathi's friendship.  There are very few truly exceptional beings on this planet.  She was one of them. 

Here's what I most remember.  She was abundantly generous in her affection and loyalty, incisive in argumentation, simply brilliant and original as an engineer and researcher.  At the same time, she sought out perspectives from disciplines beyond her own, especially the humanities.  She demanded integrity in her work, and a service ethos in all academic research.  For her, knowledge had to serve the welfare of human beings.  That was always her primary concern.  She was peerless as a mentor and a promoter of women in science at UVa.  And a devoted daughter and aunt, traveling to visit family them frequently.

 She had the best, warmest smile.  That warmth is what I'll remember most.  She wouldn't go anywhere to eat with us without her beloved Benji coming along.  And together with Shri, she was an ardent sports fan and traveller.  She loved the world.

She was pure sunshine in my life and my husband's.  It had been months since our last meeting, but time just didn't matter with Malathi.  When she cared about you, that was it.  The same warmth and openness was always there.  I'm confident when we meet again, that warmth will still be there. 

I was greatly saddened by the news of Professor Veeraraghavan's passing.  As one of her Ph.D. students, I have been grateful that I had the chance to work with her and to continue to have her as my mentor and friend after I graduated.  Over the past 16 years, We had great times in discussing a variety of topics, from research to history to politics to work to gender equality to the meaning of life.  I have been deeply inspired by her incredible spirit of working to the end, her enthusiasm for research and work, and her deep care toward her students. 

I got the chance to work with Professor Veeraraghavan (she preferred to be called MV) in May 2004. It was a difficult time for me when I tried to find a research fund to continue my Ph.D. studies.  It was MV who funded me since then until my graduation. MV was enthusiastic and strict in research. She was radically candid. She genuinely cared for me and challenged me with constructive feedback. She treated me and other students as her kids, throwing parties for our accomplishments. When my family visited Charlottesville, MV invited us to her house. 

I will miss MV who was an advisor and friend to me. My family is going to miss her too.  My heartfelt condolences to Shri.


I was a visiting PhD student in Prof. Malathi Veeraraghavan’s group. Malathi was not only a highly accomplished professor, but also a great mentor to me. I had the honor to know her and had the greatest respect for her. She was one of the toughest and kindest people I have met in my life. I model myself after her. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to be her student even for those few and short years. She was one of those rare individuals who believed me had a talent for academic, built up my confidence and encouraged me to pursue my dreams. 
I will miss her a lot. My life is incomplete without Malathi. May her soul rest in peace.


A person of great passion for her beliefs, Malathi was one who kept all of us alert: as a colleague, a friend or during vigorous discussions on books or politics! She never let a stereotype or any type of irrationality pass away unnoticed and always wanted to evaluate all positions with data. She was so full of facts that often, the only advice I had to her was: "Malathi, just read more fiction" or "Malathi, just go with the spirit". She was not one to be overwhelmed and so I'm dismayed how she passed away so young and in her prime. I'm sure she will be remembered long after by her family, friends, students and the wider professional community, where she excelled. My heart goes out to her family (Shri and Benji). 

I was very sad to hear the news of Malathi’s passing. 

I will always remember her fondly as she was a very passionate person in all aspects of life. 
 Our political discussions were always enlightening and full of details. We felt we learned from each other even when did not agree on the point being made.

Malathi’s passion for traveling and discovering the world was amazing and it was eye opening to see  the map she kept to show all the places she had visited.

We’ll miss her and send our condolences and our love to Shri and Benji, her trusty four paws companion.

I still can not believe that Malathi is no more.  I met her at Bell Laboratories around 1994. She hired me and took me under her wings. She  was very warm, kind and a professional mentor for me for almost four years. She was a fountain of energy, her work was meticulous, her ideas were brilliant. She worked tirelessly and was always with a smiling face.  
She was so vibrant and always upbeat. No opportunity for celebrations were missed, including birthday of our  son and birth of our daughter. I am sorry to be not in touch with her lately. Me and my family are going to miss her very much. I am sure this is a great loss for all the colleagues, science and engineering community. 
Our heart felt condolences to Shree and May her soul rest in peace.


I first met Malathi in1999 while boarding a flight from Newark to Banff. Shiv my spouse was attending a workshop there, I was going along to visit this gorgeous place. As I boarded I heard and saw a fellow Indian woman and we smiled, an immediate connect I felt, we were the same age, ethnicity, and both were animated and excited abut the trip. Turned out she was the organizer of the workshop and had recently joined Poly (now Tandon)!
Over the next three years that Malathi was in NJ/NY area we did Thanksgiving at my home and dinners at hers. The immediate connect I had felt proved true: we discovered we had much in common: dog moms, gardening/plants, walks on the beach with our dogs, same rather silly Brit com shows we both enjoyed (eg. Keeping Up Appearances, I suspect much to the embarrassment of our hubbies). Yes all this sounds trivial but it was very meaningful to me to have met someone I felt so much in common with, the sister I never had. We talked of going for hikes in New England and learning Mandarin together. We never got around to it which I regret immensely. 
Malathi was so vibrant, so full of life, so eager and excited about learning new things and travel and trips, she was a joy to spend time with. I wish we had spent more time with her. 
I absolutely loved her postcards from all her trips she had on the fridge! I hope Malathi is enjoying some wonderful hike, is completely pain free, and I'm sure she is livening up and getting people excited about all the things to do wherever she is now. 
Many people are going to miss her.
My heartfelt condolences to Shri, and I wish him strength. 

I was fortunate enough to collaborate with Malathi several times over the years on various aspects of networking. She was gentle and kind, and also quick and brilliant. While always ready to learn, she had a well-founded trust in her own powerful intellect, and would stand by her own reasoning, exchanging ideas to further the understanding of everyone in the conversation. I certainly benefitted from collaborating with Malathi - I hope that she found value in her interactions with me.

The world is smaller and poorer because of her passing - Malathi was a delight. My heart goes out to all of her many friends and family - may she rest in peace, and may we all treasure her memory.

I was fortunate enough to get to know Malathi briefly, through her interactions with the team at ESnet. Although I could not get to work with her directly, I always found her very encouraging and inspiring. Her passing is a great loss to the research community.

I didn’t know Malathi when she was at IIT, Madras.

Malathi had come to Madison, Wis,  to visit a mutual friend,  which is when I got to meet her. A whole bunch of us had a blast during her trip, including partying and staying up one night to watch dawn by the lake. 

She was a very lively person, full of life.

May she RIP. 😢😢


OBITUARY

Malathi Veeraraghavan

11 July, 1962 – 11 May, 2020

Teague Funeral Service

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