Prof. Dr. K. M. Rai stands as one of the founding fathers of radiotherapy in Tamil Nadu and a pioneer in the development of radiation oncology across India. He was among a select group of physicians who were specially trained in the handling of radium and the use of X-ray therapy in the United Kingdom, bringing back this specialised knowledge to shape the discipline in India at a time when it was in its infancy.

At the Barnard Institute of Radiology, Madras — one of the four radium institutes established in India and home to Asia's first academic radiology programme — he served as lecturer in-charge of radiotherapy and electrology from its early years, rising to become Professor and Head of the Department. A landmark achievement during his tenure was securing a dedicated cancer unit with a 100-patient capacity, including a radium ward with an attached operation theatre — described at the time as a milestone in the history of the Barnard Institute and of Indian radiotherapy.

Through his vigorous efforts, together with colleagues Dr. P. Rama Rao and Dr. Santhan Krishnan Pillai, he played a central role in reviving the Indian Radiological Association — an act described by the Association's own historians as its rebirth.

Upon retirement in 1962, he founded the Dr. Rai Memorial Medical Centre in Chennai, driven by a vision to make cancer care accessible to all at a time when treatment was a novelty and largely out of reach for the common man. That institution continues his mission to this day.

The Prof. K. M. Rai Memorial Oration is delivered at each Annual AROI Tamil Nadu & Puducherry State Conference to honour a physician who dedicated his career to building radiation oncology as a discipline in South India — from training in post-war Britain, to leading Tamil Nadu's foremost radiotherapy institution, to founding a cancer centre rooted in the spirit of service.

The oration is delivered at each Annual AROI Tamil Nadu & Puducherry State Conference by a distinguished radiation oncologist, keeping alive the spirit of a pioneer whose legacy is woven into the very fabric of the specialty we practice.