Business services chief named by YHS trustees

“I always felt I had to come back to Oakhurst … Our home was here and our heart was here. We lived in many large and small cities and there’s no place like Oakhurst. It’s God’s country. It’s a good place to bring up kids.”

--Srini Srinivasan

Yosemite High School District

Saying that education is one of the most important things for young people, T. N. Srinivasan — who goes by “Srini” — says he is excited about his new opportunity to work with the team at the Yosemite Joint Union High School District.

Mr. Srinivasan was named director of Business Services at last Thursday night’s meeting of the district Board of Trustees.

He says his objective is to work with the district team “to make Yosemite High School top in the state and nation. It is already one of the top schools. I want the community to be proud of Yosemite High School.”

A native of India, Mr. Srinivasan notes that in that country, education is the most important thing for young people. He has lived in the United States for 22 years and says “I am a proud American citizen.”

He wants YHS graduates to be proud of their school. No matter where they go, he wants them to talk with pride and tell other people about YHS.

New to schools

Although this is his first job in a school system, he is very familiar with YHS. His daughter, Saranya, is a senior at the school, a member of the Mock Trial Team and has been a member of the state champion Academic Decathlon team the past two years. This year she will be the only returning member of the team, all of the others having graduated.

Mr. Srinivasan says it will be a “tough challenge” for the young team this year but he is confident they will do their best.

On the way to making YHS the top school in the state and nation, Mr. Srinivasan wants “to work with the staff to make YHS drug free, crime free and the best place to learn.”

He wants to work with the staff to train the students for the future and he wants to help “make YHS a place that is so exciting the kids want to come to school with enthusiasm.”

Since he is not from the school industry, Mr. Srinivasan says he hopes to bring a new perspective to his position.

Wealth of experience

District Superintendent Bill McCabe is pleased that Mr. Srinivasan has joined the staff and he looks forward to the perspective and expertise he will bring to the job.

“He brings a wealth of experience to this position. I am confident that he will be a very positive force in our organization and that he will work with us to make this an even better place than it is now,” the superintendent says.

Mr. Srinivasan and his family first came to Oakhurst in 1990 when he was hired as director of international business, OEM licensing and direct sales for Sierra On-Line. He was instrumental in setting up that company’s office in the United Kingdom and he was director of the Japanese operation.

“I always felt I had to come back to Oakhurst,” he says. “Our home was here and our heart was here. We lived in many large and small cities and there’s no place like Oakhurst. It’s God’s country. It’s a good place to bring up kids.”

He and his wife, Gita, also have a son, Rajesh, who is a sixth grader at Wasuma Elementary School.

Mr. Srinivasan received a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Madras in India and he earned his master of business administration from the University of Texas at Arlington.

India, Kuwait roles

Prior to coming to the United States, he worked for the government of India doing project cost engineering and scheduling for government projects from 1970-77.

The next two years, he worked for Bechtel Corporation on the Kuwait oil gas project where he did project cost engineering and scheduling for a $3 billion project in oil and gas refinery.

In 1979, he came to the U.S. and enrolled at the University of Texas and completed his studies there in 1982.

He then worked for seven years for Radio Shack/Tandy Corporation in Texas where he was responsible for the games and education software product line.

From 1982 to the present, he has worked in the computer industry in senior level positions at Sierra On-Line, CompuServe and Gateway 2000. His most recent experience was as co-founder of an Internet start-up company.

Teaching, too

This fall, he is teaching Introduction to Management at State Center Community College District’s Oakhurst Center. Last spring he taught Job and Human Relations in Business.

While at the University of Texas, he worked as a graduate teaching assistant. He also wrote the Instructor Manual for Organizational Behavior and he co-authored an article on Leadership Theory that was published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior and Human Psychology.

Mr. Srinivasan makes an “annual pilgrimage” to India to visit his mother who he calls “the great lady who brought me up.” She visited the United States in 1987.

He believes strongly in people working together. “Communication and team work are the two pillars of any organization,” he says.