19/09/2018
Dr Kuppuraj, 1985-2018
obituary by Dorothy Bishop
I’m tremendously sad to report that we learned that Kuppuraj (Sengottuvel), postdoctoral Newton International Fellow in the OSCCI group, died on 3rd September at his home in India. We do not have full details of the circumstances beyond being told he had a heart attack. Very shortly before his departure from Oxford in February, he had investigations for health problems, but we thought he was not at serious risk, and so the news came as a terrible shock to all who knew him.
I first got to know Kuppu when he contacted me to ask if he could come and work with me in Oxford. I was very uncertain. I get many such requests, and it is risky to take on someone you’ve never met. There was, however, something different about Kuppu’s letter. He showed a real spark of interest in his subject, with deep knowledge of the literature; he had penetrating questions and the way he described his research made me think it would be worth at least meeting him. I encouraged him to apply for funding for a short visit, and he came over for a couple of weeks thanks to funding from the Experimental Psychology Society.
During that first short visit in 2015, I could see that he was not only smart, motivated and hardworking, but also a lovely person, with a warm and genuine manner. He applied successfully for a Newton International Fellowship sponsored by the Academy of Medical Sciences, to pursue his studies of statistical aspects of language learning. During his two years in Oxford, I came to know him well, and was full of admiration for his creativity and willingness to try everything. He was modest – always expressing concern that he did not really know enough – but he was willing to try everything, keen to learn, and made enormous progress in his research. The main paper that we published in Royal Society Open Science was an impressive piece of work, achieved with help from Paul Thompson and Mihaela Duta. Kuppu showed an impressive ability to learn new skills, to respond to critiques and to put in hard work. It is tragic that he will not be able to take that work forward, but he had a genius for forming productive collaborations, and I know that others will build on what he has started.
Kuppu was impressive not just for what he achieved in his research, but also for the impact he had on all of those who knew him. Quite simply, he was a source of positive energy, who just made the world a better place for those who knew him. It’s not easy to start a new life in a completely different culture. Kuppu remained cheerful throughout, although he made it clear that English food was appalling, and our best Indian restaurants could not compete with his mother’s cooking. Although he was delighted to experience snow, and would recklessly ride his bicycle along icy roads, he was greatly looking forward to returning to the warmth of India. He was always friendly, helpful and fun to be with, curious about new experiences, and brave in the face of adversity. He had always kept himself fit and was a keen cricketer.
A word about his name: Interacting with Kuppu was a tremendous education for me, because it made me aware of so many things about Western culture that I took for granted. Systems of naming and addressing people were totally different in Tamil Nadu, and I remember being taken aback when Kuppu explained that he really had only one name – Kuppuraj. Why then, I asked, had he published as Kuppuraj Sengottuvel? Well, he explained, he had to put two names in the fields in the manuscript submission system, so he put his father’s name as well as his. We had some discussion as to how to proceed in future publications, which concluded with him switching the order of the two names. But really he identified with just the one name, Kuppuraj. Just like Sting, as I would explain to new colleagues.
I had hoped to continue to work with Kuppu in the years ahead, and I feel so desolate that a cruel fate has taken him from us. He will live on in the many positive memories that we have of him – as a funny, warm, and delightful young man, as well as a promising young scientist.
