University College Record 2013

Kenya and India. Since 2007 Gajan was Manager of the South Asia Sustainable Development Operations Unit in Washington, the position he held until his death.

Prior to joining the World Bank Group, Gajan worked as Economist for the Central Bank of Ceylon in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Gajanand, as his name suggests means “Ganesha—The Elephant God.” In the Hindu culture, “Gajanand” is the first deity to be worshipped and is usually put at the entrance of homes. The significance of this is that as the Elephant that walks through the forest clears a path before him, “Gajanand” is worshipped to remove all obstacles from our path and make our work smooth. Gajan was aptly named as he made his reputation as a talented manager who excelled at helping teams move forward and “clear the path” for their work in support of the clients of the South Asia Region. His passion for development, wise counsel and many contributions to the sustainable development practice of the Bank will be missed.

Our deepest sympathy is extended to his wife, Dhamayanthy Pathmanathan, two daughters, Anjali and Ishani, and to other members of his family.

This year, we, Royalists and Thomians who enjoy a tradition lasting 133 years, lost two of our greatest cricketers of the early seventies, namely Ranil Abeynaike and Gajan Pathmanathan. In fact they played against each other in 1971 and 1972. Well, they can resume their innings “up above” when the “Battle of the Blues” will continue in heaven.

1975: Mark Andrew Copping (Perse School): we recorded Mark’s death on 21 July 2012 in last year’s issue of the Record. The Editor is now very grateful to Andrew Lydiard (1975) for supplying the following obituary. Andrew in turn would like to thank Mark’s widow Janet Engels and his family for their help in preparing it.

Mark Copping died suddenly and too soon on 21 July 2012 when he suffered a heart attack while playing tennis. He was 55.

Mark came from Cambridge. After his studies at the Perse School there, he attended Univ. to read Jurisprudence, achieving a Distinction in Law Mods, following which he was awarded a scholarship. He was a justifiably proud member of the Univ. team that won the university mooting competition in 1977. The final, against Keble, was judged by Lawton LJ. Mark went on to argue for Oxford against Cambridge and Reading. Mark pursued his flair for theatre at Univ. and appeared in several productions. In between studying and other leisure activities, Mark’s friends might just recall the air of anticipation he caused when he took to the dance floor.

Contemporaries will remember him as an entertaining and witty companion.

He enjoyed the cut and thrust of debate. It was therefore no great surprise that after Univ. Mark was called to the Bar. He practised for four years before deciding on a change of direction but he never lost his talent for holding a crowd and public speaking was a constant throughout his career.

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