Faculty - Prof. S. S. Rama Rao Pappu

Professor Pappu is currently a Senior Professor of Philosophy at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. He obtained an M.A. from the University of Delhi and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Southern Illinois University. Professor Rama Rao is well-known in North America as the Founder-Director of the International Congress of Vedanta which he established in 1986 for bringing together, on a common platform, Indian, American and European scholars to discuss current issues and foster research in Indian philosophy and religion. He has organized sixteen international conferences in the U.S.A., Trinidad, Russia and India. He organized the Gandhi Centennial Conference (1969), the Radhakrishnan Centennial Conference (1988), the 1200th Anniversary Conference of Srī Sankaracharya (1990), the Centennial of Swami Vivekananda’s Sojourn to America (1992), Birth Centennial of Jiddu Krishnamurti (1995) and the 700th anniversary of Sanjeewan Samadhi of Srī Jnaneswara (1996).

Professor Rama Rao was a Hindu delegate to the Parliament of World’s Religions, Chicago, Cape Town, (South Africa) and Barcelona (Spain). Professor Rama Rao’s publications include Gandhi and America’s Educational Future; Indian Philosophy: Past and Future; Dimensions of Karma; Perspectives on Vedanta; New Essays in the Philosophy of Sarvepalli Radhakrishn.

The Indian Council for Philosophical Research nominated Professor Rama Rao as a Distinguished Visiting Philosopher in 1998, and the National Endowment for Humanities appointed him as Visiting Philosopher to Wittenberg University, USA. He was the recipient of the “Recognized Professor Award” and a “Certificate of Distinguished Service” award given by Miami University, TANA (Telugu Association of North America) Award in 1999, “Srikalapurna” award of the Sonty Renaissance International Foundation (2002), Vamsee Award (2004) and the Global Certification of Honor from the Indological Research Foundation, Bangalore (2005).