Professor Dr. P. Madhava Soma Sundaram holds a Masters Degree in Criminology from the University of Madras, Chennai, India. His Doctorate work is in the field of Victimology, focusing on Fear of Crime. Currently he is Professor and Head of the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University (MSU), Tirunelveli – 627 012, India. He is the Chairman of the Indian Society of Criminology-ISC and Vice President of the Indian Society of Victimology-ISV (https://isvindia.webs.com/). He is also the Director, Center for Planning and Development, MSU. Earlier he was a Member, Syndicate and Member, Finance Committee of MSU.

Professor Madhava was selected and sent by the Government of India for Leadership for Academicians Programme (LEAP) by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, New Delhi.Leadership for Academicians Programme (LEAP) is a Flagship leadership development training programme of academic functionaries in public funded higher education institutions. The main objective is to prepare academic heads who are potentially likely to assume leadership roles in the future. Professor Madhava was trained by the Harvard University, Boston, USA, during March 2019

Earlier to the present position, Prof. Madhava has served as the Head of Division (Training), National Institute of Social Defence, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, New Delhi, was in charge of Training of Social Defence personnel in the whole of India. Prior to that, Prof. Madhava was the Deputy Director (Academics), Regional Institute of Correctional Administration, South India & Lecturer in Criminology, Regional Institute of Correctional Administration, Vellore.

Besides Victimology, Prof. Madhava specializes in Human Rights, Juvenile Justice research and training, Penology and Correctional Administration, Police and Criminal Justice Studies. In his about fifteen years of research, teaching and training experience, Prof. Madhavan has designed, conducted and evaluated, competency development programmes for various State Police Forces, in India like the Uttar Pradesh Police, Assam Police, Andhra Pradesh Police and Tamil Nadu Police and to other Juvenile Justice functionaries in India.

Prof. Madhava, organized the 21st Criminological conference of the Indian Society of Criminology in 1992, at Chennai and has conducted four Regional Consultations on the implementation of the Juvenile Justice Act,2000 at New Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati and Chennai. He organized the National Meet of the NGOs working with the Children in Need of Care and Protection, 2003 at New Delhi.

Prof. Madhava organised the first International Conference in Victimology in India, at Tirunelveli during 2004, with Restorative Justice as the main theme.

Prof. Madhava, conducted four National Level Training of Trainers (TOT) Programmes to develop Master Trainers in the area of Juvenile Justice Administration. as well as many National, Regional and State Level Training Programmes on Juvenile Justice, for Social Defence personnel, throughout India. Recently, he has organized a National level Seminar on Copyright, and on Grassroots Protection of Human Rights and a Seminar on Intellectual Property Rights.

Prof. Madhava was awarded the ICSSR Open Doctoral Fellowship Award for the Year 1987, a centrally sponsored scheme of the Government of India, for conducting Doctoral Level Research in Victimology.

Prof. Madhava has authored Eight books and forty articles/papers, chapters in books, editorials, book reviews, project reports, monographs in journals and magazines. He is also credited to have designed a curriculum for the six-month and one-year courses of the Regional Institute of Correctional Administration. Prof. Madhava has developed Orientation Training on Juvenile Justice for Uttar Pradesh Police Personnel and for Assam Police Personnel and a Module on Orientation Training on Juvenile Justice for Foundation Course Officer Trainees of Lal Bahadur National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie.

Fourteen Scholars are currently working, under the guidance of Prof. Madhava, for their doctoral research, in the areas of victimology and law, two have submitted their synopsis, and one has received his doctoral degree.

Prof. Madhava has developed a Training Manual for the Training of Trainers for Juvenile Justice Administration based on which four Training of Trainers (TOT) Programmes were conducted by the National Institute of Social Defence, Government of India, where, about 120 Master Trainers were Trained throughout India. He has developed a Facilitators’ Manual on Prevention, Care and Support of Drug Abuse Related HIV/AIDS- for the United Nations Drug Control Programme, New Delhi, through which Counsellors/ Social Workers working in the Drug Abuse Counselling Centers, throughout India will be trained, and a Participants’ Manual on Prevention, Care and Support of Drug Abuse Related HIV/AIDS- For the United Nations Drug Control Programme, New Delhi- to be used by the Counsellors/ Social Workers working in the Drug Abuse Counselling Centres. Presently he is engaged in a research of assesing the economics of crime victimization for a Government of India Project.

In recognition of his contribution in the growth of Criminology in India, Prof. Madhava was conferred the title of "Fellow of Indian Society of Criminology" (FISC) by the Indian Society of criminology (ISC) for 2001. In the year 2009 he was awarded the ISC - Prof. S. S. Srivastava Award for Excellence in Teaching and Research in Criminology, in India. In 2015 he was awarded "Prof. K. Chockalingam Award for excellence in Victimology", for his lifetime contribution to the field of Victimology, by the Indian Society of Victimology (ISV).

Prof. Madhava is the Life Member of Indian Society of Criminology and its Vice Chairman, Life member & Vice Chairman of the Indian Society of Victimology, Life member, Madras Psychology Society, Chennai and Life Member, Indian Association of Applied Psychology, Chennai. He is also the President of the “Criminal Justice Forum,” Tirunelveli, India. He was also the past General Secretary of the Indian Society of Victimology.