R. C. Hiremath
R. C. Hiremath was a professor of Kannada and the Vice-Chancellor of Karnataka University, Dharwar after A. S. Adke. Hiremath was the president of the 59th Kannada Sahitya Sammelana. He was a founding member the Dravidian Linguistics Association and the director of International School of Dravidian Linguistics in Trivandrum. His work ranges from creative and critical work to several editorial publications.
Early life and career
After losing his father at an early age and the loss of his mother's eyesight, R. C. Hiremath faced grave difficulties and was forced to provide for his family. He however completed his early education with great distinction and received a M.A. and PhD in Kannada. He started his career as a professor of Kannada at Basaveshwar College, Bagalkot. He soon joined the emerging department of Kannada in Karnatak University, Dharwad as a reader, and went on to build a full-fledged Institute of Kannada studies. In recognition of his contribution to the institute, the institute was named after Dr. Hiremath posthumously. He and his team at the institute gathered an extensive collection of rare manuscripts and conducted research. This effort resulted in publication of several important Kannada works especially in the field of Vachana Sahitya.Hiremath had post-doctoral training in Modern Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, USA on a Rockefeller Foundation senior fellowship for a period of 3 years. He was later instrumental in setting up the study of Linguistics at Karnatak University and participated in several Dravidian Linguistics conferences.