Vikas Arya, a DAV Alumnus, leads the team as the Honorary Secretary. He holds an MBA from IIM-Bangalore and is also a Chartered Accountant. Prior to joining DAV in 2016, Vikas spent over a decade in the Financial Services domain, working with International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group), Gaja Capital Partners, Crisil and General Motors.
In addition, he has learnt various aspects of the Vedic philosophy at the DarshanYogMahavidyalaya, Gujarat. He has also authored a series of Value education books for the children, titled – ‘Fostering Vedic Values’
The first school captain of DAV Gopalapuram (Class of 1975), Rajiv Choudhry wears many hats – he is a Life Skills & Leadership Coach, Educationist, Business Consultant, Curator & Creative Producer, Actor & Director.
Rajiv has over four decades of business and consulting experience spanning from manufacturing to media. He has trained over 50,000 participants using experiential learning methodologies and creative tools like theatre, film, art, sports and simulations. He has served on Manipal Board of Studies for Media, consulted for FICCI’s Animation Awards and been an Advisor & Speaker Coach for TEDx Chennai.
Shanthy Asokan M.Sc, B.Ed is a seasoned educator in Biology with an illustrious career in the field of education, spanning over 35 years. Her mastery in Biology has facilitated students to achieve great academic goals like CBSE merit certificates in AISSCE and DBT scholarships at the National level. Observing her notable contribution, CBSE conferred her with the key position of Subject Expert in Biology from Chennai region. Determined and focused to establish moral values primarily, in the students, her mission was always to synchronise academics with character education. As an Educator and a true Academician, she has epitomized learning, as she strongly believes that learning forms the nucleus of a teacher’s life.
Malliga Sridhar, M.Sc.B.Ed., M.Phil has served as the Principal of both DAV Girls and DAV Boys Senior Secondary Schools at Mogappair. She has been a passionate teacher and an educationist for 35 years. Her journey in the educational field cuts across different geographies and environments – CBSE, Cambridge syllabus and Engineering Mathematics. She has been teaching Mathematics at DAV Mogappair since 2003 and earlier taught at Kendriya Vidyalayas in Delhi, Kerala & Madhya Pradesh; at an International School in Dubai and at Bharath Engineering College, Chennai
An erudite scholar, Principal V. Padma, M.Sc., B.Ed., M.A., M.Phil has been leading the school since July 2018. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, a Masters degree in English and an M.Phil in Psychology so it’s not surprising that she is skilled in identifying problems and brainstorming potential solutions in the course of her day-to-day routine. She has served in various capacities at D.A.V., where she joined as a Maths & Science teacher, and then moved on to become the Headmistress and the Principal in D.A.V. Matric Mogappair and thereafter at D.A.V. Girls School, Gopalapuram. She strongly believes in clarity in communication with parents and the staff under her, and keeping with changing times embraces innovation in teaching methodology.
Dr. P Ravi, the former Regional Director of National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) Chennai is an eminent educationist with over 35 years of experience. He was groomed as a teacher from RIE (NCERT) and has served in prestigious institutions such as KVS, NVS & NIOS. He excelled in the nuances of the education system as teacher and administrator in both formal and open/distance learning. His significant contributions in NVS fetched him the Best Principal Award. He established the NIOS regional centre at Chennai in 2013 and helped increase the visibility of NIOS for the benefit of people of Tamil Nadu & Puducherry.
Radha Subramanian M.Sc., B.Ed., began her teaching career in the year 1994 at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Nagpur. She has a Masters degree in Chemistry and a Bachelors degree in education. She joined the D.A.V. Senior Secondary School (boys), Mogappair in 2003 as a chemistry teacher and took up over as Principal of D.A.V. Sr. Secondary School in May 2019. Her educational philosophy is based on her strong belief that all students can learn and excel if there is a positive learning environment, a committed and focused educational team, an encouraging community and a supportive family.
Balaji has over two decades of experience in a Fortune 100 Automobile MNC.
He is skilled in Governance Risk Compliance, Business Continuity, Operations Management, Account Reconciliation, Accounting, Business Process Improvement and Team Building.
Principal - Boys Senior Secondary School, Gopalapuram
Chitra Raghavan M.Sc., M.Phil.,B.Ed. started her illustrious teaching career in the year 1992 as PGT in Physics. An M.Phil in Nuclear Physics from the University of Madras, her first stint as Principal was for a period of 9 years before she joined D.A.V. Boys Gopalapuram in the year 2005 as PGT (Physics). With her signature teaching style of systematic and rigorous schedule, learning by doing and experiential learning method, she always encourages students to give their best and the best they did give – with an impressive record of 87% of students scoring A1 and A2 on an average in Class XII Board Examination in Physics, every year.
Hemamala Balasubramanian is an educationist with a rich and diverse experience of working with several institutions. She has over two decades of experience in the education sector and has played various roles from teacher to advisor to principal. She earned her B.Ed. in special education and holds 4 post graduate degrees including M.Sc., M.Ed., MBA in Education Management and M.Phil. (Gold Medallist). She has been at the helm of many ‘firsts’ like setting up the first-of-its-kind math lab in TSRS, New Delhi, SKV, Gwalior as well as instituting inclusive learning.
S. Kanakalakshmi, M.Sc., B.Ed. is an enthusiastic Mathematics teacher who has over 20 years of experience in teaching. She is a rank-holder from the University of Madras at the graduate level. She started her teaching career in 1999 and has been with D.A.V. Girls Senior Secondary School, Gopalapuram since 2002.
She is a warm and caring teacher committed to create a classroom atmosphere that is stimulating and encouraging to students.
Mr. M. Karuppiah, M.Sc., M.Ed., is a dedicated teacher, teaching Mathematics for more than 23 years. He did his Masters in Mathematics and Education from Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli. His career as a teacher began in 1997 at DAV Higher secondary school, Gopalapuram and he later became the Principal of DAV BHEL school, Ranipet in 2017. His expertise in teaching Mathematics has helped more than 100 students to score centum and he has been maintaining a class average of not less than 85 percent. His deep commitment to education ensures a child-centered approach while taking a genuine interest in students’ cognitive, social and mental growth.
Krishnakumar C S is a postgraduate in Economics with more than 30 years of teaching experience. His illustrious career in education began in 1992 as a teacher at Vivekananda Residential School, Telangana. He later joined DAV BHEL School in 1998 as a Primary Teacher and went on to become a PGT in Economics. Krishnakumar has also worked as a career counsellor for Classes VIII to XII. He has conducted various workshops, seminars and webinars on Economics and Social Sciences. He has mentored and trained teachers as well. He believes in creating a happy environment that helps students in their learning process and holistic development.
Nandhini M.Sc., M.Ed., is a professionally qualified educationist with more than twenty five years of experience as a Life Science teacher. Having functioned as a facilitator in enabling students to achieve academic excellence by inculcating innovative methods of instruction, she has taken the role of Principal of the school in 2019. Endowed with a positive attitude and non-judgmental outlook, she is a perfectionist who adheres strictly to virtues of punctuality and discipline and is one who firmly believes that ‘Teaching is not a Profession but a Vocation, because, A Teacher affects Eternity’.
Principal - Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Gill Nagar
Ramana Velavan M.Sc., M.Ed has been with D.A.V. for over 20 years. He joined as a Science teacher in 1998 in D.A.V. Sr Sec School, Mogappair, and was promoted to PGT – Biology and transferred to D.A.V. Matric Hr Sec School, Mogappair in 2005. Thereafter, he was promoted to Headmaster in 2017 and then as the Principal in July 2018. His earnest dream and strong desire is to lift the institution to glowing heights both in the field of education and extra – curricular activities especially in NCC, Sports and Games. He has successfully completed the NCC pre Commission Course at Officers Training Academy at Nagpur and after undergoing three refresher courses, he has been promoted to Chief Officer.
Principal - Girls Senior Secondary School, Gopalapuram
Radha Venkatesh holds a Post graduate degree in Physics and a Bachelor’s degree in Education. She began her career as a Physics teacher in the year 2001 in Jawahar Hr. Sec. School, Chennai. In 2010, she joined Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan, Sr Sec School, as a Physics teacher. Later in the year 2015, she joined DAV group as a Physics teacher and took over as Principal of Dav Girls Sr Secondary School, Gopalapuram in April 2022.
She has always strived to make education a fun-filled, enjoyable learning and growing experience and based on the solid foundation of values. She believes “Learning is not to be attained by chance. It must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.”
Principal - DAV-Sarada Eashwar Vidyalaya, Pzhichalur
Shanthi Rajamohan, BA, B.Ed., MBA served as a teacher for over 30 years and has held leadership positions including Department Head, Vice-Principal and Principal at Vishwa Bharathi School in Bhopal, MP, where she started her career.
Her journey in DAV began as Faculty of English at DAV Boys Gopalapuram in 2009. Shanthi Rajamohan has always focused on providing the right platform for students by encouraging them to bring out their creative side with no inhibitions and helping them find their true calling through a combination of practical and theoretical teaching.
Seshadri Gopalan, MSc., B.Ed., M.C.A., has worked in various capacities in reputed schools across the country. He started his career in 1991 as a System Analyst but later switched over to a teaching career in 1993, teaching mathematics at TVS Lakshmi School, Madurai. Thereafter he joined K.D.Ambani Vidyamandir, Gujarat where he received a citation and a memento from Reliance Industries for his contribution towards township development. He also worked as coordinator for IGNOU centre at Reliance and during this time, more than 200 Reliance employees received certifications through IGNOU.
He also served as Vice Principal at Presidency Group of Schools in Bangalore, Principal at Sanjeewan Vidyalaya in Panchgani, Principal and Head-Curriculum at Lalaji Memorial Omega International School in Chennai. His mantra is “Good Better Best, never rest, until Good becomes Better and Better becomes the Best”
Principal - Girls Senior Secondary School, Mogappair
Uma Parvathy, M.Sc., B.Ed is a Dietician and a teacher. After highschool, she dived deep into the study of nutrition for five years and even worked in the Emergency ward of Vijaya Health Centre. Though she started her teaching career at the Madras Medical Mission in the department of Clinical Nutrition, she realised that her interest lay in working with children. She joined DAV Boys School, Mogappair in 1996 and has been teaching English, Science, and Social Science subjects. She finds teaching children delightful as it kindles the childlike spirit in her and inspires her to give her best everyday.
Mrs. Bina has graduated in B.A. English Literature from Bharathiar University and has also completed Montessori, Kindergarten and Nursery teacher training programme in Chennai.
She has 15 years of teaching experience with the Nursery children in reputed schools in Ooty and in Chennai. She also worked in a CDC centre in California. She is currently serving as Headmistress of D.A.V. Nursery school, Gopalapuram
Lakshmi Ramesh has 27 years of work experience in varied domains and has been with DAV Shikshanam since its inception in 2017. Having begun her career as an associate partner for a bank, she along with her husband soon started a Marketing and advertising Company which had an employee count of more than a hundred. Her extensive experience as an entrepreneur liaising with EPCs – manufacturers and suppliers as well as various Government and Corporate entities has given her enormous capacity to work across domains and sectors.
Nandakumar M.Phil, M.Ed was President of the Tamil Nadu Association of Matriculation Schools and their managements (an umbrella organization of more than 9,000 schools) for a period of 7 years. He has served in senior positions for 13 years with two schools consistently ranked 1 & 2 in India – Dhirubhai Ambani Int’l School, Ecole Mondiale WS & Oberoi Int’l School. He was the founder director of CBSE’s first Nodal Centre in SE Asia and currently heads Datta Educational Consultants, which has been instrumental in the setting up of reputed schools across India and acts as Consultant for IBO, CIE and Private CBSE & CISCE Schools.
Vidya Murali is a HR professional with more than two decades of intensive experience across the spectrum of Human Resource activities. In her role as consultant, she has enabled several Organizations to transform their talent strategy and adopt robust people practices. Vidya has been part of the HR Leadership team in leading multi-national Organizations, including Cognizant where she was responsible for the People Development function. She is certified in Executive Assessments from Saville & Holdsworth UK. In her corporate HR leadership role, Vidya was responsible for conceptualizing and implementing the first set of Assessment centers for the IT industry in India.
A dedicated and a dynamic educator with more than 4 decades of teaching and administrative experience in several prestigious educational institutions, Smt. Vasantha Balasubramanian was the founder Principal of D.A.V. Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Gill Nagar. She has served as a resource person in training Chemistry teachers of the state and has coauthored Chemistry Text Books for leading Publishers. A recipient of the Dr. Radhakrishnan State Award, she was also a member of the Board of Secondary Education, Government of Tamil Nadu. Extremely committed to every task she undertakes, her mantra for success has always been, “Give your Best and a Little more”
Sriram Santhanam, an Architect who graduated from NIT Trichy with an MBA in Project Management, has a vast experience of about 30 years in Residential, Commercial, Retail and Hospitals. He had worked with various developers including the Ozone Group, Tishman Speyer, Marg Group and Puravankara Group at Senior Management Level and worked at Design Firms like RSP and Technicaliya. Sriram had served as Director, Projects at FHD Group, one of the leading Architectural Firms in India. His last stint was as Director, Project Management at KKvinDC. His project associations include International Stadium and Shopping Market at Rourkela; various multi-storeyed Residential Buildings at Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar for Prestige, AKME, Mantri, Brigade, Adarsh, Vaswani and Puravankara Groups; Data Centers and Wills Lifestyle Retail Stores For ITC; Hospital Buildings at Pariyaram and Kannur; Five-star Hotel Projects at Puri and Kolkata for a hotel chain in the North East.
With over 20 years of experience across media, communication and events, Hamsavani Raman has worked with internationally reputed companies across industries like banking, IT, manufacturing, hospitality and media.
An artist and a Trainer, she extensively uses the arts as a tool to design experiential learning workshops that address behavioural skills. She also creates training content and facilitates sessions.
A post-graduate in Mathematics and an M.B.A. (HR) holder, Karthikeyan Subramaniam has 24 years of multi-cultural experience in Banking & Credit Cards, Healthcare, Retirement Systems, Manufacturing, Retails industries and has served in senior tech positions. He has been heading the IT Dept at DAV from 2018.
R. Kanjana B.Sc, M.P.Ed., is passionate about sports and yoga and excited to teach it to her students. She has completed her Graduation in Chemistry, Post Graduation in Physical education and also cleared the S.L.E.T and UGC exams. She has spent over 20 years as a physical education teacher nurturing young talents in sports and teaching yoga. She is especially passionate about the game of basketball and has coached her team to victories in numerous tournaments at the State as well as National levels. She is also an avid practitioner of yoga and has a Postgraduate degree in Yoga from the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University, Chennai.
Mr. K R Meenakshi Sundaram has worked in multiple fields with vast experiences for close to three decades.
Having begun his career as a process engineer, Meenakshi Sundaram further widened his experience with diversifying in IT, ITES, HR and administration fields, specifically establishing a firm hold on educational administration in the past 14 years.
