Sankar Sitaraman completed his undergraduate mathematics education at the Vivekananda College (University of Madras) and Master’s program at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (also known as Chennai), India. He received a doctorate in algebraic number theory at CalTech under the supervision of Dinakar Ramakrishnan, in 1994. Since then he has been on the mathematics faculty at Howard University, Washington, DC. He has published papers in the Journal of Number Theory and the Hardy-Ramanujan Journal.

After arriving at Washington, DC he has also been  involved in various volunteering activities. With Association for India’s Development based in College Park, MD he has volunteered in fundraising activities that help the disadvantaged, the poor as well as the children of India. With the Sierra Club DC chapter he has participated in various protests, rallies, and educational and outreach events. He was a long-time member of the chapter’s energy committee. He is a certified hike leader for the Sierra Club Potomac Regional Outings Program since 2007. In 2007 he also started the Nature Lovers’ Meetup to organize events to promote awareness of environmental issues and outings to enjoy nature. He is also a member of the Environmental Studies Program Faculty Advisory Council at Howard University. He enjoys teaching basic mathematics courses using examples and applications from environmental studies.

He is also a practitioner of mindfulness meditation. Since 2001 he has been a member of the Washington Mindfulness Community, a group of followers of Thich Nhat Hanh,  serving as member of their Board of Trustees for the 2018-2020 term. He is married to Nicole, an attorney, and proud father of four year old Prashant.