Professor Ishwar Dayal, a doyen of Indian management education and founder director, IIM Lucknow, passed away Tuesday morning at New Delhi after a prolonged illness. He was 90.
Despite his advanced age Prof Dayal was mentally agile, playing the role of Chief Mentor, Birla Institute of Management Technology, BIMTECH, Greater Noida since 2012.
Prof. Dayal served as the first full-time Director of the fourth national level management institute -- Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow. In 1963, Prof. Dayal started teaching at IIM Kolkata and later moved to IIM Ahmedabad.
He also served as the founding Dean of International Management Institute, New Delhi, Director, Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi and leader of UNDP/ILO Project on Management Development in Nigeria. He served several business organisations for nearly 15 years and held senior management positions at Alembic, Philips and Metal Box.
Prof. Dayal went to the University of California to study mechanical engineering and later specialised in Clinical Psychology. He took up post graduate studies in New York and London. Prof. Dayal has been a consultant to many large organisations in India such as Power Finance Corporation, Life Insurance Corporation, Indian Oil Corporation, Indo-Burma Petroleum, Air India, Indian Airlines, National Thermal Power Corporation, Mafatlal Industries, DCM, Voltas, Bank of Baroda among others. He has served on several Government commissions and committees. In 1990 he chaired a Ministry of Human Resource Development committee to recommend on Policy Perspectives for Management Education that presented the report 2001. Prof. Dayal has published 27 books and monographs and over 240 papers in journals and periodicals in India and abroad.