D. S. Ramanathan was Malaysian politician, mayor, teacher, unionist and educationist of Indian origin. He was the founder and chairman of Labour Party of Malaya. Beside that, Ramanathan also serve as the first mayor for the city of George Town. credited for his pioneering efforts to set up a university in Penang. The idea of a university in Penang was first mooted by him in 1959 in the State Assembly and later crystallised when he was nominated chairman of the Penang University Project committee.