Jayam Rutnam

Jayam Rutnam is a Sri Lanka born American and the founder of the Sri Lanka America Association of Southern California (SLAASC) in 1973.[1][2]

Jayam Rutnam
Jayam Rutnam
Born1942
Sri Lanka
NationalitySri Lankan American
Occupationshipping business (retired), film critic and journalist
Known forFounder of Sri Lanka America Association of Southern California (SLAASC)
Spouse(s)Gina
ChildrenAliki, Jean-Louis
WebsiteSLAASC
Rutnam received the main award at the Sri Lanka Foundation Awards, held on Sunday, November 16, 2014 at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. The award was presented by Sri Lanka Foundation President, Dr. Walter Jayasinghe for Rutnam's work with the Sri Lankan expatriate community in Southern California.

Jayam is retired from his shipping business[1] and currently involved as a film critic and journalist.[3][4][5][6]

Rutnam is an associate producer of the film The Road from Elephant Pass which was a Finalist Award Winner at the New York International Television and Film Awards - 2011.[7]

Biography

Jayam is the fifth son of Dr. James T. Rutnam and a brother of film maker Chandran Rutnam.[1]

Jayam immigrated to Southern California in 1963. His eldest brother, Raja, was the first Sri Lankan immigrant to the United States, which was in 1958.[1]

He is married to Gina, an Italian-American and has daughter Aliki and son Jean-Louis and two grandchildren by the former.[1]

Sri Lanka America Association of Southern California
Rutnam holding the San Gabriel Valley Examiner, a weekly publication from Glendora, California.

Jayam founded the Sri Lanka America Association of Southern California (SLAASC) in 1973 to serve the Sri Lankan community in Southern California.[2]

Jayam started SLAASC with seven other Sri Lankans when there were only about 1,000 Sri Lankan immigrants in the Southern California, though the number has risen to 65,000 in 2010.[1]

Jayam was instrumental to keep all Sri Lankan expatriates together in Southern California so that they had a place to go for social activity. He could be credited by helping people who did not have enough money to survive and made funeral arrangements for those who had nobody in Southern California by his SLAASC.[1]

See also

References
  1. Liyanage, Jayanthi (February 3, 2010). "Imprinting Lanka on the world map". The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
  2. "About Us". Sri Lanka America Association of Southern California. Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
  3. "The Grey' s story attracts Academy Award". The Sunday Observer. March 25, 2012. Retrieved 2014-02-15.
  4. "George Clooney as 'Matt King' and Shailene Woodley as 'Alexandra' star in THE DESCENDANTS". The Sunday Observer. May 2, 2012. Retrieved 2014-02-15.
  5. "Footloose Film with drama, music and life". The Sunday Observer. December 18, 2011. Retrieved 2014-02-15.
  6. "Sri Lankan scientist's inventions in Mars Rover". The Sunday Observer. December 25, 2011. Retrieved 2014-02-15.
  7. New York Festivals - 2011 World's Best Television & Films Winners
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.