the heart of the city, the college moved to the sprawling, green campus in Tambaram on the outskirts of Madras in 1937. On 30 January 1937, the governor of Madras, Lord John Erskine declared open the first campus buildings. The hostel gave way to three halls of residence — Selaiyur, Thomas' and Heber — active today as semi-autonomous student communities. Women students were admitted on a regular basis from 1939, and a hostel for them came up in Guindy, Madras in 1950. This too evolved into an on-campus hall of residence for women, Martin Hall, named after Agnes Martin, in 1968, Margaret Hall in 2008 and Barnes Hall in 2016. Tambaram Conference 1938 In 1938 MCC hosted the Tambaram Conference (also called The Madras Conference or Tambaram 1938), the third World Missionary Conference which eventually created the World Council of Churches. The same buildings were used again in 1988 (Tambaram 1988) to commemorate this landmark event which focused on contemporary thought into ecumenism, Christianity's engagement with world religions and traditions. In the words of Bishop Stephen Neill, this event was "the most international gathering held up to that point in the entire history of the Christian Church." William Miller's vision in creating an educational institution that prepared the largely Hindu students to a Christward direction through education, rather than just conversion of their faith, was lauded. Lesslie Newbigin, the famous missionary and theologian who attended the 1938 conference, spoke at the 1988 event at MCC as well. Governance and leadership The Rev. Dr. A.J. Boyd led the college for 18 years (1938–56). Alfred Boyd, Prof Macphail became principal, who was then succeeded by the first Indian principal of the college, Dr. Chandran Devanesan in 1962. The college was one of the first in India to be granted Autonomy in 1978 and the first batch of Autonomous graduates passed out in 1981. The year 2006 marked the Silver Jubilee of Autonomy for Madras Christian College. The 175th year celebrations were organized in the year 2012. Principals List of Principals from inception of the College till present, Campus The campus is known for its flora and fauna, notably deer and rare trees. The college is distinguished by a lake on campus. The campus curator maintains these natural resources and ensures that no damage is done through the unauthorized cutting of plants or grass. The first curator of the campus was Prof. Edward