KOCHI: Educationist and former Cusat Vice-Chancellor M V Pylee passed away at a hospital here on Saturday. He was 95. Pylee had been ailing for some time now. The funeral will take place at the Little Flower Forane Church, Oonnukal in Kothamangalam at 2.30 pm on Monday.Regarded as the father of management education in Kerala, Pylee was Cusat’s third VC having served in the post from 1977- 1981. A Padma awardee - he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2006 - Pylee was also an authority on the Constitution and a distinguished academician. He was the founder director of Cusat’s School of Management which was established in 1964. The M V Pylee Award for the best academician in the country was instituted by Cusat in his honour.
As an academic, Pylee had a brilliant career both in the country and abroad. He had taught at the universities in Lucknow, Patna, Delhi, Kerala and Cochin, besides serving on the Faculty of Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad.The many honours and awards received by Pylee, include Emeritus Professorship of University of Cochin (1986), Management Leadership Award KMA (1986), Distinguished Leadership Award for outstanding services to teaching and Management Profession and Akshardham Award, Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat for Unique Achievements in the Field of Management.
The Banaras Hindu University (BHU) conferred him with an honorary D.Litt in 1997. After stepping down as Cusat VC, Pylee was heading the Asian Institute of Development and Entrepreneurship. He had been chairman of the Kerala State Advisory Board on Education and the UGC nominee on the Board of Management of Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) and the Allahabad Agricultural Institute, both Deemed Universities.
The body of Pylee will be kept at his residence near the Women’s ITI at Kalamassery from 10 am on Sunday till Monday 9 am. It will then be taken to Moolamattam House, his ancestral home at Oonnukal, Kothamangalam. Pylee is survived by son Varghese Pylee and daughters Merilyn George and Anu Stephanos.