Rajagopalan

Visvanathan Rajagopalan

Visvanathan Rajagopalan ("Raj"), 95, peacefully passed away Wednesday January 24th, surrounded by family at his home in Bethesda, Maryland.

He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Sampathkumari, his three children Chitra (Ravichandran), Krishnan (Sumati) and Radhika (Sridhar), and his seven grandchildren: Bharath (Tracy), Meera, Mekala, Varun (Nisha), Jayaram, Vikram and Vivek.

Raj was born in Narasaraopet, Madras Presidency, British India in 1928, and was the eldest of 8 children. After earning his bachelors in Civil Engineering from Madras University, he received a scholarship to pursue a Masters in Sanitary Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Upon graduation, he spent a decade applying his skills as an engineer with the Government of India in the Ministry of Health building sanitation infrastructure for a nascent post-independence India.

In 1965, Raj moved his young family to Washington DC as among the first Indians hired by the World Bank. Over his 29 year career there, he rose through its ranks as he bridged his engineering background with innate leadership. He retired in 1994 as the Chairman of CGIAR, and a Vice President of Sector Policy in the Office of the President of the World Bank, overseeing countless global infrastructure development projects.

Throughout his life, he served as a mentor to many and lived his values by placing family first. As the eldest of his generation, he was a key pillar in forging deep connections amongst his extended family and supporting the next generation through their challenges and ambitions. Raj was deeply devoted to his family, instilling in them his values, discipline, and love of chocolate. He often went on long walks with his grandchildren, sharing stories of his travels and childhood with them.

He will be deeply missed by those he has touched through his long accomplished life. His cremation was held on January 28th. Please consider a donation in his honor to The Water Project: thewaterproject.org

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti

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Published by The Washington Post on Jan. 28, 2024.

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