Lakshmibai (Lucky) Venkatramani, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics, passed away December 2, 2023.

Professor Venkatramani joined Northeastern’s Mathematics Department in 1987 and was a dear colleague, educator, and friend to many students, faculty, and staff up to and past her retirement in 2019.

Professor Venkatramani was an accomplished mathematician and researcher whose expertise and reputation extended worldwide. Her research interests were in the areas of Algebraic Geometry and Representation theory, in particular Flag Varieties and their Schubert subvarieties. She was widely published and frequently sought after to lecture and present at prestigious conferences internationally.

In 2012, she was selected as one of the inaugural fellows of the American Mathematical Society. Professor Venkatramani co-authored several books including Flag Varieties: An Interplay of Geometry, Combinatorics, and Representation Theory Second Edition, The Grassmannian Variety: Geometric and Representation-Theoretic Aspects, and Singular Loci of Schubert Varieties.

Professor Venkatramani was an outstanding educator, always willing to help and dedicate time to her students who she loved watching succeed. She was kind, patient, and encouraging — a role model and mentor, especially to young women studying and researching mathematics. Earning her PhD in 1976 from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in India, she demonstrated that women can excel in math and spent her career inspiring a generation of women mathematicians.

Professor Venkatramani will be fondly remembered for her love of music and mathematics, and she will be truly missed.