P.R. Chandy: Passionate about teaching and finance

		P.R. Chandy, Regents Professor of finance, insurance, real estate and law, makes finance fun for his students.

In the early 1970s, Perinkolam Chandrase-karan, Regents Professor of finance, insurance, real estate and law, worked nights as a chemist in a refinery in his native Madras, India, and slept during the day.

Chandrasekaran, or P.R. Chandy, as he is known on the UNT campus, had already earned a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering at the University of Madras in 1970. Unhappy with his work schedule at the refinery, he decided to earn a degree in a different field and made his dream of coming to America a reality. He earned his master's degree in informational systems at Texas Tech University in 1975 and stayed at Tech to pursue a Ph.D. in finance. While in Lubbock, his eyes were opened to teaching. He had found his passion.

As a teacher, Chandy says, he didn't want to repeat the patterns of the educational system he grew up with.

"I don't use any of the teaching styles typically found in India, which tend to be more formal and distant; I learned everything by observing my American teachers and professors," Chandy says. "I watch what others do and pick out better elements of teachers to see what appeals to me and to my students."

He says he quickly realized that an effective teacher is not just a person who can put together a lesson, but someone who has a passion for those lessons and an ability to communicate them well.

Chandy is not the only faculty member who observes the teaching practices of others. His own teaching methods have impressed fellow UNT professors.

"I've known Dr. Chandy for 15 years and he is one of the finest instructors UNT has," says James MacDonald, professor of finance, insurance, real estate and law.

Chandy's approach to teaching is a product of his motivation to succeed and his enthusiasm for his subject matter.

"I have always believed that to be a good teacher I have to be convinced in my mind that what I teach is critical," he says. "My students see that the subject I teach correlates with life. The subject is universal because it is something everyone is worried about: money."

Chandy also encourages fun in his classroom, wearing a baseball cap with a ponytail and a mouth full of fake teeth on test days and sharing Dilbert comics with his students.

Outside the classroom, Chandy performs throughout the Dallas and Houston areas as a freelance player of Indian and American percussion instruments.

He began to play Indian percussion instruments at age 12, but his interest and time for playing dwindled when he was in college.

His passion for percussion was rekindled after he moved to the Dallas area and attended concerts by visiting Indian professional artists.

He now enjoys playing with a variety of bands and has accompanied Indian musicians at UNT functions. Most recently he has been working with a crew of 30 people preparing a musical about the life of an Indian composer.

BY CHREE CARR ucmnews1@unt.edu

Other featured articles in this issue

• $1 million gift to help fund construction of new UNT athletic center
• UNT launches e-Campus web site
• UNT to host annual law conference March 1-2
• Faculty and staff can vote now for 2004 UNT Homecoming theme
• UNT students, alumna win Rotary Scholarships
• Cowboy historian to speak to Friends of the UNT Libraries
• UNT professor finds that women's civic clubs led to suffrage movement in Texas
• Familiar faces should rule at 76th Academy Awards
• Totten named to National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

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