| J. M. Rajaratnam | |
| Birth Date: | 23 December 1927 |
| Death Place: | New Jersey, USA |
| Alma Mater: | University of Ceylon |
| Occupation: | Accountant |
Jesuthasan Mylvaganam Rajaratnam (23 December 1927 – 16 June 2014) was a Sri Lankan Tamil accountant and corporate executive.
Rajaratnam was born on 23 December 1927.[1] He was the son of A. J. Mylvaganam from Alvai near Point Pedro in northern Ceylon.[1] He was educated at Hartley College and Jaffna Central College.[1] [2]
After school Rajaratnam joined the University of Ceylon, graduating with an honours degree in chemistry.[1] He then went to study accountancy in the United Kingdom on a scholarship.[1] [2] He was elected president of the Ceylon Students Association (London) in 1956 and he was also the vice-president of the London Tamil Sangam which he helped establish.[1] [2] Thereafter he studied management accountancy in the United States, again on a scholarship.[1] He was a fellow member (FCA) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.[3]
Rajaratnam married Rajeswari Muttucumaru.[1] They had three sons (Rajakumaran, Rajakanthan and Rajarengan) and two daughters (Shanthini and Vathani).[1]
Rajaratnam taught briefly at Jaffna Central College.[3] Later he was appointed senior auditor at the accountancy firm Ford Rhodes, Thornton & Co and chief accountant at Brown & Co.[1] [3] He then joined the Singer Company as financial controller.[4] He was chairman and CEO of Singer's operations in Ceylon in the 1970s before being promoted to Vice-President Asia Region for the Singer Company in 1976.[1] [5] During his time in Ceylon he helped establish numerous small businesses in the north of the country.[2] He moved to the USA after being appointed Singer's Vice-President of Finance and Accounting.[3] [4]
After retirement Rajaratnam was involved in various philanthropic projects and was chairman of the Rajaratnam Charity Foundation.[1] [3] [2] He was president of the Illankai Tamil Sangam of the USA, vice-president of the World Tamil Organisation and founding member of the Welfare & Human Rights Committee USA.[3] He was also a consultant to the World Bank, member of the Roster of Experts on matters related to transnational corporations of the United Nations and a member of the US Executive Volunteer Service Corp.[3]
Rajaratnam died on 16 June 2014 in New Jersey.[3]
. Dictionary of Biography of the Tamils of Ceylon. 1997. 150. S. Arumugam.