Obituary : Prof. S. L. Narayanamurthy

PROF.S.L.NARAYANAMURTHY-TRIBUTE TO AN ESTEEMED COLLEAGUE
The demise of our esteemed colleague, Prof. Murthy on October 14,2019 , has come as a shock to all who knew him closely. Prof . Murthy had been ill for the last one year. After a year long valiant struggle, he had ultimately succumbed to the disease. Prof. Murthy had a long four decade association with IITB and had ,during this tenure, donned many hats and undertaken with dedication, many academic and administrative assignments He started his academic stint at IITB in the early sixties as a Master’s degree student of the Chemical Engineering Department in the specialization , Technology of Inorganic Process Industries . After his Master’s degree , he started his PhD research in the department only to complete it later in the University of Bradford , UK
He joined the department as a faculty in Aug 1964 . When he entered the department as a young faculty, he had literally a sort of baptism through fire, having been called upon to run the high pressure Ammonia pilot plant (set up by the Russians) through various shifts. This initiation , at an early phase of his academic career, conditioned him to tackle challenging assignments which came his way in later years. As a faculty, he had contributed extensively to the teaching and research programmes of the department. In fact, he had been one faculty, who had volunteered on more occasions than one, to teach courses in times of need . His research interests were in the areas of liquid–liquid extraction and liquid membranes
Prof. Murthy has been exceptionally skilled in policy formulation and has been adept in human relations. In the role of an administrator in later years, he had adopted a facile and pragmatic approach of working around administrative bottlenecks to resolve problems and issues .These qualities helped him to tackle a wide range of assignments that came his way during his illustrious career at IITB. As a Head , he played a motivating and facilitating role in carrying the faculty with him in the academic growth of the department He had also played an active in role in the department efforts in the revamping of the academic programmes at both UG and PG levels. He played a lead role in restructuring of UG programme during early eighties , forging consensus among faculty with diverse viewpoints . The most notable had been his singular efforts to pilot successfully the Five year Co-operative MTech programme by diligently cultivating excellent rapport with his industrial counterparts . His interpersonal skill was put to its sternest test when he was handling the Mission Mode project on Food Processing . With his tactful handling, the team under him could develop a Technology for Supercritical Extraction which had not only got the coveted NOCIL Award but could be readily transferred as a viable technology for industrial practice. As Dean R & D, he took proactive steps in restructuring the administrative structure by bringing in technical support to augment the incumbent accounting workforce. He could also carry forward the computerization plans of the Dean R & D office. He had shown adaptability to extend the domain of his expertise to embrace newer responsibilities. This was the situation when he was asked to take up the Headship of CAD Centre whose mandate was different from that of academic departments . During his stint as the Dean of Resource Mobilisation , he could build excellent personal bonds with the Alumni and develop systems and processes for flow of Alumni contributions to IITB. Even after his retirement from IITB , his passion for academic engagement continued with him going to Gandhinagar to guide another IIT to trace a trusted path towards academic excellence
As a person , he was always friendly and receptive to ideas. He had excellent command of the English language and had the uncanny knack of putting the right word at the right place and adding at times a tinge of subtle humour. His chronicle regarding his interactions with the Russian expert, Prof. Grinevich and the Russian technician, Mr.Kusnetnzov bears testimony to his impeccable humour laden writing style. He had cordial relations with almost all with whom he had interacted with. I cherish my long years of association with him.
The Department and Institute will always remember outstanding contributions he had made to their academic growth . In recognition of his contribution to the growth of IITB ,the institute had conferred on him Life Time Achievement Award. A greater award was the respect and adulation he received from his colleagues and generation of students he taught or mentored . In his demise the Chemical Engineering fraternity lost a great educator and visionary. At my own personal level, I lost a wonderful colleague and a trusted friend. May his soul rest in peace. His bereaved family could take comfort from fact that he had left behind a legacy of dedicated service to the cause of education which will be remembered by the past, present and future generations of IITians .
K.P.Madhavan
18-10-2019

PROF.S.L.NARAYANAMURTHY-TRIBUTE TO AN ESTEEMED COLLEAGUE
The demise of our esteemed colleague, Prof. Murthy on October 14,2019 , has come as a shock to all who knew him closely. Prof . Murthy had been ill for the last one year. After a year long valiant struggle, he had ultimately succumbed to the disease. Prof. Murthy had a long four decade association with IITB and had ,during this tenure, donned many hats and undertaken with dedication many academic and administrative assignments He started his academic stint at IITB in the early sixties as a Master’s degree student of the Chemical Engineering Department in the specialization , Technology of Inorganic Process Industries . After his Master’s degree , he started his PhD research in the department only to complete it later in the University of Bradford , UK
He joined the department as a faculty in Aug 1964 . When he entered the department as a young faculty, he had literally a sort of baptism through fire, having been called upon to run the high pressure Ammonia pilot plant (set up by the Russians) through various shifts. This initiation , at an early phase of his academic career, conditioned him to tackle challenging assignments which came his way in later years. As a faculty, he had contributed extensively to the teaching and research programmes of the department. In fact, he had been one faculty, who had volunteered on more occasions than one, to teach courses in times of need . His research interests were in the areas of liquid–liquid extraction and liquid membranes
Prof. Murthy has been exceptionally skilled in policy formulation and has been adept in human relations. In the role of an administrator in later years, he had adopted a facile and pragmatic approach of working around administrative bottlenecks to resolve problems and issues .These qualities helped him to tackle a wide range of assignments that came his way during his illustrious career at IITB. As a Head , he played a motivating and facilitating role in carrying the faculty with him in the academic growth of the department He had also played an active in role in the department efforts in the revamping of the academic programmes at both UG and PG levels. He played a lead role in restructuring of UG programme during early eighties , forging consensus among faculty with diverse viewpoints . The most notable had been his singular efforts to pilot successfully the Five year Co-operative MTech programme by diligently cultivating excellent rapport with his industrial counterparts . His interpersonal skill was put to its sternest test when he was handling the Mission Mode project on Food Processing . With his tactful handling, the team under him could develop a Technology for Supercritical Extraction which had not only got the coveted NOCIL Award but could be readily transferred as a viable technology for industrial practice. As Dean R & D, he took proactive steps in restructuring the administrative structure by bringing in technical support to augment the incumbent accounting workforce. He could also carry forward the computerization plans of the Dean R & D office. He had shown adaptability to extend the domain of his expertise to embrace newer responsibilities. This was the situation when he was asked to take up the Headship of CAD Centre whose mandate was different from that of academic departments . During his stint as the Dean of Resource Mobilisation , he could build excellent personal bonds with the Alumni and develop systems and processes for flow of Alumni contributions to IITB. Even after his retirement from IITB , his passion for academic engagement continued with him going to Gandhinagar to guide another IIT to trace a trusted path towards academic excellence
As a person , he was always friendly and receptive to ideas. He had excellent command of the English language and had the uncanny knack of putting the right word at the right place and adding at times a tinge of subtle humour. His chronicle regarding his interactions with the Russian expert, Prof. Grinevich and the Russian technician, Mr.Kusnetnzov bears testimony to his impeccable humour laden writing style. He had cordial relations with almost all with whom he had interacted with. I cherish my long years of association with him.
The Department and Institute will always remember outstanding contributions he had made to their academic growth . In recognition of his contribution to the growth of IITB ,the institute had conferred on him Life Time Achievement Award. A greater award was the respect and adulation he received from his colleagues and generation of students he taught or mentored . In his demise the Chemical Engineering fraternity lost a great educator and visionary. At my own personal level, I lost a wonderful colleague and a trusted friend. May his soul rest in peace. His bereaved family could take comfort from fact that he had left behind a legacy of dedicated service to the cause of education which will be remembered by the past, present and future generations of IITians .
K.P.Madhavan
18-10-2019