Kumarasamy “Sam” Shanmugan
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Kumarasamy “Sam” Shanmugan of Lawrence passed away at Lawrence Memorial Hospital on Tuesday, August 1. He was 74.
Sam was born in a small town in India on January 6, 1943. He emigrated to the United States in 1967 and first moved to Lawrence in 1970 as a postdoctoral fellow at Kansas University. After teaching at Wichita State University, he returned to Lawrence in 1980 to join the KU faculty and became a distinguished professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He was active in the Lawrence community and served as a member of the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission.
Sam is survived by his wife of 48 years, Radha; his sons, Kannon and Ravi; his daughter-in-law, Victoria; and his grandsons, Thomas, William, and Henry.
A memorial service will be held at KU at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Shanmugam Family Neurosurgery Research Fund at KU Medical Center. Donations may be made through the KU Endowment at kuendowment.org. Online condolences may be posted at warrenmcelwain.com.
Ravi and family,
I am sad to learn of Dr. Shanmugam’s death. His influence in your lives has been significant and I am sure you will feel this great loss. He must have been a wonderful man. I believe this because he was your dad, Ravi. I often think of you and remember with fondness our time together at South Junior High School.
All my love to Sam’s family in this difficult time.
I was saddened to learn of Dr. Shanmugan’s passing. We will all miss him.
Yesterday we were in Rabanal talking about this trip of Sam and Radha to Spain around 10 years ago, where we spent a full weekend walking through the mountains. This morning I looked for some information about Sam, and I found this link. I am so sad, he host 2 young Spanish students in 2001 for a semester, in order to finish our Master Thesis, and give us a unique opportunity to have an unforgottable experience. Moreover, he welcome us for the Thanksgiving dinner at his house, and I won’t never forgot the goodbye lunch at the golf course house.
My deepest condolences to Radha and her family.
Sam Shanmugan encouraged younger engineers including me with his insight and tireless enthusiasm for the beautiful mathematics of communications theory and its practical, often innovative application. At times with a formidable confidence, his style was demonstrative, never egotistic. A breath of fresh air in hotly competitive work environments. He liked expanding his world as well, and the last chats I had with him were about the joys of road bicycling, a not altogether risk-free sport we shared. Not so many years ago, Sam completed the RAGBRAI ride across Iowa, a standout physical achievement for a guy his age. A man of many talents.
My deepest condolences to Prof. Shanmugham’s family. I was his graduate student in Wichita State University and he guided me through the program and set me on the course for my career. He was instrumental in giving me directions for the future and I owe a lot to his mentorship. May his soul rest in peace.
May Prof. Shanmugam’s soul rest in peace. I owe my professional career to him. He was my advisor at KU.