Chennai: The golden jubilee of the reunion of IIT Madras, which was held on Saturday at the IC&SR auditorium, saw the pioneers of IIT-M reunite, some of them setting foot on the campus after decades.

When the first convocation was held in 1964, presided by the then President of India S. Radhakrishnan, 92 students were awarded B. Tech. degrees. A year later, in 1965, another 115 students passed out of the institute, which was set up in 1959.

While time and work pressure did not allow them to meet for years, on Saturday, more than 50 of the pioneers were present and some of their teachers too.

Recalling the early years, V. Anantharaman, 87, former professor of economics, said, “Since I left in 1981, the institute has come a long way and has changed completely.”

Recounting the past when there were only two girls in the class, former Railway Board member B.S. Sudhir Chandra, a 1964 graduate, said that the more than 50 per cent representation of girls has gladdened him.