About Us

Born with the college in 1950, the Department of English trails a glorious history crowning several undergraduate and postgraduate batches with merit and value. Prof. K.M. Chandy, Dr. Sivarama Subramanian Iyer, Prof. A.C. Kuruvila, Prof. Andrews Kottiri and Msgr. Joseph Kureethadam are some among the stalwarts of the Department. This Department is proud of its alumni like Sri. K.J. Mathew I.A.S., Dr. Mathew Joseph and Dr. N. Ramachandran who carved their names in golden letters in their careers.

In 1985 Mahatma Gandhi University recognized the Department as a Research centre and it has 10 research guides. The students have brought laurels to the department by winning University ranks and NET and JRF continuously for years. The department organizes classes, seminars and workshops on research methodology and literary theory. From 2000 onwards PG students benefit from UGC NET coaching conducted along with their PG Programmes.

There were two Principals in St. Thomas College from the faculty members of the English Department: Rev. Joseph Kureethadam, the Second Principal and Rev. Dr. Kurian Mattom. The former was Principal from 1952 to 1968 and the latter from 1995 to 2001. Rev. Dr. Kurian Mattom had taken his PhD from Philippines on “The Concept of Sin in Shakespeare’s Tragedies.” It was during his tenure that Pre Degree was delinked from the University and the Board of Higher Secondary Education was formed.

Two Vice Principals of the college were appointed from the faculty of the English Department, Dr. Mathew Joseph and Prof. Cherian Vadakkekunnel. Dr. Mathew Joseph has produced more than 25 PhDs under his supervision. He is still active in academics as visiting Professor in various colleges in Kerala. Prof. Cherian was very active in the college as a motivator, organizer and career guide. He was the coordinator of the Millennium Expo, a mega event held in the college in 2000.

Rev. Dr. Augustine Palakkaparambil and Dr. Joy Jacob became Principals of Devamatha College, Kuravilangadu. After retirement, the former was sent to the USA for Pastoral work and the latter is now serving as the director of the Self Financing Degrees, B. Com and Communicative English in our college. Dr. Joy is a research guide as well. Dr. K.K. Abraham was very active in Politics and was a good organizer in the Co-operative sector in Kerala.

Dr. V.J. Sebastian, Prof. V.A. Mathew and Prof. M.C. Alexander were students of the first M.A. English Batch in St. Thomas College, Pala. Dr. V.J. Sebastian is now teaching English in Amaljyothi Engineering College, Kanjirappally. Prof. VRS Iyer is still active in academics. He is teaching in Ettumanoorappan College, Ettumanoor. Prof. K.M. Chandy was very active in Politics and after retirement, he became the Left. Governor of Pondicherry.

Prof. V.O. Chummar was a Rank holder in M.A. from St. Thomas College, Pala. After retirement he served in the College as the director of the Self Financing Course, Communicative English till 2017-’18. It is he who gave a sense of direction to the course. Many students were placed in good positions after completing the course.

Prof. Thomas Jacob and Prof. Tom K. Varghese served, after retirement, in the Communicative English Department of the College till 2017-’18. Dr. T.V. Thomas was a great teacher and a scholar par excellence. He had taken PhD from England. In 2000 he took voluntary retirement due to some personal reasons. He resumed his career after a short break in Self Financing Colleges.

Dr. Augustine Joseph joined the Department in 1988 after completing seven years if service in North India as a College Lecturer. After retirement, he became the Principal of an English Medium School at Kadaplamattom, Kerala. Dr. T.J. Abraham took voluntary retirement and joined the Central University, Thiruvayoor, Tamil Nadu. Prof. William Zacharias retired in 2019 as the Head of the Department. He assumed charge as the HOD in 2015 when Prof. Cherian Vadakkekunnel retired from the post.

Currently, Prof. Franci Mathew is the Head of the Department. The faculty comprises of ten permanent teachers and three Guest Lecturers. There are 30 seats in the PG batch and 40 in the UG. Every year the applications for admission outnumber the sanctioned seats.