HYDERABAD: The State lost two eminent academicians – Prof R Radhakrishna and Prof Endluri Sudhakar – on Friday. Prof Radhakrishna was earlier director of the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS) from 1985-1994 and then took over as chairman in July 2013. He was 79 and is survived by a daughter and son.
Prof Radhakrishna did his PG in Economics and Statistics from Andhra University, and Ph.D. in Economics from Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (Pune University). He was a scholar par excellence. As a Ph.D. scholar, his thesis won acclaim from no less than the world-famous econometrician Gerhard Tintner. Prof. Radhakrishna was an eminent development economist, well-known academician and highly respected teacher. He successfully guided 25 doctoral students, recalled CESS director E Revathi.
In recognition of his significant academic contributions, he was awarded VKRV Rao Prize in Economics in 1985, and Telugu Atma Gaurava Puraskaram for his eminence in Social Sciences by the government of undivided AP in 1998. He was Jawaharlal Nehru National Fellow (ICSSR) during 2009-11.
“Prof Radhakrishna will be remembered forever by the academic community for his contributions in the research and policy in the fields of poverty, agriculture, food security, employment and rural development. He nurtured younger ge-nerations towards academic excellence. His legacy will be carried forward by his student. He was a legend of our time,” Revathi said.
Endluri Sudhakar, poet and professor, died of cardiac arrest at the age of 64. He was serving as senior professor in Telugu department of Hyderabad University. He was jury member of Sahitya Akademi and member of Telugu Akademi.
Prof Sudhakar translated several Hindi and Urdu poems into Telugu. He penned several books including ‘Jashuva Naa Katha’, ‘Kotha Gabbilam’, ‘Malle Moggala Godugu’. Telangana Sahitya Akademi chairman Juluri Gouri Sha-n-kar said that while there was no death for his poetry, Prof Sudhakar’s demise was a huge loss.