Kasaragod: Central University of Kerala's Vice Chancellor Prof H Venkateshwarlu died of multiple organ failure in a hospital in Hyderabad Saturday morning, said vice-chancellor in-charge K C Baiju. He was 63.
Venkateshwarlu, a professor of commerce at Osmania University in Hyderabad, was appointed as the third Vice-Chancellor of Central University of Kerala on August 14, 2020.
On August 12, he was found unconscious in his official residence. He was given cardiopulmonary resuscitation and revived in a private hospital in Kanhangad. Later, he was shifted to Aster MIMS in Kannur, where he was under critical care for nearly a month.
Sometime in mid-September, his family airlifted him to Hyderabad where he was admitted to an ICU of a super-specialty hospital. He died around 1 am on Saturday.
Prof Venkateshwarlu is survived by his wife Sugunadevi Dasyam and children Haripuram Keerthana and Haripuram Gautham Bhargava.
Cremation will be held at GHMC Chandramati Aryan Smasana Vatika Cremation Land at Tarnaka in Hyderabad at 2 pm on Saturday.
"The statutory officers of the university will be attending the funeral," said Prof Baiju.
Prof Venkateshwarlu, known as HV in academic circles, grew up in Vemulaghat village in the former Medak district of Andhra Pradesh (now in Siddipet district of Telangana). He was raised by his mother after he lost his father when he was six years old.
Prof Venkateshwarlu had told this reporter that he started giving tuition from Class 5 to support his family and education.
He went on to become a professor at Osmania University, where he taught for 30 years and retired in 2019. The Government of Andhra Pradesh honoured him with the Best Teacher Award in 2010.
In Central University of Kerala, he will be remembered for ending the bitter and frequent conflicts between the students and the administration of his predecessor and restoring harmony on the campus.
On August 12, in his last message to faculty members, he wrote in the WhatsApp group: "We need to be focused, work smart, relentlessly forgetting petty things issues.
Workable suggestions are always welcome. Every day, think of 2027. Unless all faculty members are there on mission mode, it is not possible. It is after all your choice to (decide) what (kind of) institution you want to belong to." He was hospitalised the same day at 8 pm. He never recovered.
His commitment to fostering a culture of innovation, inclusivity, and academic achievement will be remembered by our academic community forever, said Prof Baiju in a statement.
