Bala V Balachandran, founder, chairman & dean (emeritus) of Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai, and J L Kellogg distinguished professor of accounting & information management (emeritus in service) at Northwestern University passed away at Chicago after a brief illness. He was 84.
Born in Pudukottai in Tamil Nadu, Bala (or ‘Uncle Bala’ as he was fondly known) completed his collegiate education at the Annamalai University, Chidambaram, and served in the Indian Army briefly before departing to the US to pursue his Doctoral studies.
From there began an illustrious career as professor, consultant, mentor, author, entrepreneur, life coach and so much more. He helped recruit the first set of faculty members to IIM-Bangalore in the late 60s, set up the management department at the MDI at Gurgaon through a joint collaboration with UNDP, Wharton and Kellogg.