A Texas nonprofit organization with a mission to promote Tamil language, culture and literature has made a $2 million commitment to the University of Houston to establish an endowment supporting the study of Tamil heritage. The Tamil language is considered the oldest in the world — spoken by more than 70 million people worldwide — primarily in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore.
Houston Tamil Studies Chair, Inc., which is the donor, is a nonprofit that was founded last year with the goal of establishing the Tamil studies chair at the University of Houston and providing a forum for the growing population Tamil-Americans in the United States — approximately 250,000 people.