The institution of Madras Christian College started with the arrival into the country in 1837 of the young missionary, John Anderson. He set up school, one of many, in Georgetown, Madras and nursed it through its teething problems.

Miller was the Principal of the new college for its first thirty  years and it reflects  on his dynamism  that  in  ten years, the  college  had burgeoned into one with 10 British Professors, 15 Indian  Staff  and  600 students. Five years' later, there were 800 students in enrollment and 12 Professors. In  1911 Honours  courses were started: their higher  course  content raised  to levels obtaining in British Universities, raised a challenge which the better segments of students accepted.

The Indianisation of the staff  sprang from his belief  that  the Indian  mind  influenced  by Western thought and discipline, was second to none. A bachelor, Miller found his family in the staff of the College and his students: his dedication to them was single-minded, his involvement; total. The students were admitted irrespective of castes and thus the College was totally egalitarian.

It was to much enthusiasm and expectation that the College moved to the spacious, airy buildings delectably laid out on the sprawling 400 acre site in Tambaram. The move to Tambaram had been  warmly  approved  by  the Lindway  Commission  on  Higher  Christian Education of 1930 31 and two new features in College bore the fruits of its advice. One was the  merger  with  the College  of  two South Indian Colleges : Meston College and the Bishop Heber College, Trichy. The other was the restructuring of the residential system into larger semi-autonomous Halls where staff and students could live together in close fellowship.

Hogg for a year and Boyd for. 18 years carved out a new haven on this earth. Boyd's resplendent gifts as administrator, teacher and person led the team which created the format and evolved a unique life style.

The year 1962 marked the advent of the first Indian Principal, Devanesan, who lost no time in spelling out his vision of the College in a developing India.

In 1977, the final document granting autonomy to the College was received. Autonomy has, indeed, helped to bring academic pursuits closer to the centre of the life of the student and the teacher. Among staff too, a new professionalism set in with  the need  to excel in the work  of departments offering courses up to the doctoral level. The 72 PHDs on the Faculty today is by far one of the highest for any College in India and is a. measure of its viability as an institution.

Cultural Festivals and Hall Days continue to be high points. The College hosts more than 40 associations and clubs which provide the forum for more thriving interaction among students. There are organisations with a strong service emphasis like the Students Service for the Blind, the Family Life Institutes, the National Service Scheme and the Leprosy Clinic. The Centre for Integrated Rural Development Studies was the first of the service oriented courses offered by the College.

Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, second President of India and renowned philosopher,  had  spoken of the role of the college in his career. The continuing viability of the college lies in its adaptability and resilience, its ability to respond with wisdom and courage to time and tide.

The Department of Posts is happy to issue a commemorative stamp on completion of 150 years of Madras Christian College.

Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India