S. Parasuraman, a visionary, scholar and an institution builder who harnessed education in the social sciences as a tool for social transformation, passed away on Friday at the age of 70.
During his tenure as Director, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) between 2004 and 2018, he scaled up the opportunity for under-resourced regions to build their own human capital in the development sector, through extension of offsite campuses in Guwahati and Hyderabad and partnered with several not-for-profit organisations to build competencies in thematic areas such as mental health, disaster management, public policy, development studies etc.
He foresaw an expansion of Gross Enrolment Ratios (GER) in higher education in India and wanted to locate TISS in that canvas, as an institution committed to social justice. He dreamt big, and in most cases, his calculated risk-taking paid off.
