Dr. Rajan K. Sriskandarajah
Dr. Sriskandarajah graduated from the University of Ceylon, Colombo with a degree in Medicine and Surgery in 1969. After practicing in Sri Lanka he undertook post-graduate training in England, where he obtained his Fellowship of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, England in 1977. Upon moving to the United States Dr. Sriskandarajah was board certified by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in 1981. In 1989 he was appointed Clinical Assistant Professor at the New York Medical College, where he obtained a Master’s degree in Public Health in 1993.
Dr. Sriskandarajah had a successful 35-year career as Obstetrician and Gynecologist in Poughkeepsie, New York. He was honored by Vassar Brothers Hospital and his peers for his outstanding contribution to the community.
Along with his busy medical practice, Dr. Sriskandarajah was actively involved in the Ilankai Tamil Sangam USA’s activities. He was the founder and editor of first, the Sangam’s ‘Tamil Voice’ newsletter and then, of Sangam’s website from 1996 to 2004. He served on the Editorial Board of the TamilNation fortnightly from its inception in 1990 until 1993. He published numerous articles and essays and gave many speeches about Eelam Tamil issues, including to a briefing of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee in April 2001. His earliest involvement in activism was participation in the 1961 Satyagraha campaign of civil disobedience in Jaffna as a teenager. As a doctor at the Jaffna Hospital during the fourth World Tamil Research Conference in 1974 during which 9 people were killed, he worked to treat the over 50 who were wounded due to the reckless action of the police.
He was the husband of Dr. Nalaini Sriskandarajah, had one son and two grandchildren. He was the son of late Mr & Mrs Kathirgamathamby along with two sisters and was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka.