TAR University College alumnus, Prof Dr. Kurunathan Ratnavelu, made a trip to his alma mater on 8 October 2013 to reminisce the time when he was studying at the then TAR College. He met up with the President, Datuk Dr Tan Chik Heok for a brief chat before proceeding to walk around the Centre of Pre-University Studies where he studied. Prof Dr. Kurunathan did his Higher School Certificate at TAR College in 1976 - 1977 and he was one of the pioneer students who studied at the Kuala Lumpur Main Campus. Since then, he went on to University of Malaya to do his Bachelor and Masters Degrees in Mathematics. He achieved his academic pinnacle with a PhD in Atomic Physics from Flinders University, Australia.

He was the former Deputy Vice Chancellor (Development) of University of Malaya and a prominent figure in the scientific fraternity, having published 58 top-class scientific papers in journal indexed in the Web of Science (ISI) with a total of 480 citations. He has had presented many papers in local and international conferences as well. In addition, Prof Dr. Kurunathan has won many awards including the prestigious Malaysian Toray Science Foundation - Science & Technology Award for Research Excellence in 2004 and National Young Scientist Award (Strategic Sector) by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) in 1996.

He remarked that he chose TAR College for its multi-racial environment as well as the affordable quality education. He lauded the focus and ethos of the institution in providing an opportunity for education for the low income segment of our society. He shared that what he learnt the most in TAR College was independent learning which helped him to grow academically and intellectually. He still held many fond memories of some places in the campus such as the library and the laboratories that made him chuckle as he reminisced.

This visit being the second one since he graduated, he said that he was surprised to see the vast changes in the campus but he felt this was a sign of progress for the institution in tandem with the development that was taking place in the environment.