Dr. James Rajasekar

Born to school principals James and Padma in Valparai, an Indian hill station nestled in the Anaimalai Hills, James “Muzhukan” Rajasekar was the beloved second of four children. Nicknamed “Muzhukan” for his smooth, plump face that always sported an apple-cheeked smile, he spent his childhood and adolescence chasing his brothers and sister, Chandrasekar, Jeyasekar, and Jebaselvi, respectively, through hills barely discernible amid the rain and thickets.

There was instilled in Raj at a young age an unwavering sense of responsibility to provide for and look after his family, an ambition that took him to the Detroit of India for his master’s in management. Here, at Madras Christian College, he befriended a quiet Chennaiite who would commute to class every day, a friend who would go on to become his sweetheart wife of 31 years.

Raj and Viji wed in 1994 and spent the next decade ping-ponging across the globe, from Ahmedabad to Golden Gate University in San Francisco—where he, ever the overachiever, earned titles as both “doctor” and “father”—to Muscat, Oman. Trading one range of blurry hills to another, now hazy from dust storms, Raj built a life here with his wife, Viji, and their children, Akhil and Talia, for 18 years. For Raj, this meant enjoying teaching in all its forms, whether as an associate professor of strategic management and international business at Sultan Qaboos University, a Sunday school teacher at The Bread of Life fellowship, or a loving, attentive father to his children.

He accomplished this by adhering to two rules, both concerning time. One: don’t be late to church, work, school, the party, or the restaurant. Two: it is never the wrong time to learn. It would certainly have been easier to lead a household by decree, but Raj always encouraged that instinct to ask questions, do one’s own research, and form an independent opinion. The latter rule came about because he was nothing if not a leader by example, so committed was he to lifelong learning.

This means there isn’t a subject on which he didn’t have an opinion. Asked him a question about geopolitical troubles in any pocket of the world, which FDA bans are on the horizon, or what the newest applications of AI in the medical field are? Raj would have read three articles about it with links at the ready to share. He brought this same rigor to his time as part of the faculty at Nebraska Indian Community College, Morningside University, and, most recently, as an associate professor at Elizabeth City State University.

Though he has decades of experience presenting papers at global academic conferences and leading his students through several cross-cultural projects and competitions, it is this philosophy that cements Raj’s legacy as a teacher regarded by his countless students with deep affection and enduring gratitude, whether he taught them 15 years ago or spent the previous semester as their advisor.

Perhaps the most impressive of his achievements, however, is Raj’s relentless dedication to his wife, his children, his daughter-in-law, and his grandchildren, by all of whom he is survived and all of whom (among many others) are assured that his sudden and unexpected passing rests him in the arms of the Savior he deeply loved.

He is preceded in earthly passing by his parents, James and Padma, and his father-in-law, A.B. Radhakrishnan.

His funeral will be held at Providence Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Saturday, February 28, 2026, at 11 AM EST. He will be interred in St. Anthony of Padua Cemetery in Southern Pines, North Carolina.