Kochi: Padma Shri Fr Thomas V Kunnunkal S J, 99, a pioneering figure in the country’s education system, passed away in Delhi, media reports said.
A Jesuit priest and eminent educationist, Fr Kunnunkal is widely regarded as a towering personality
in the country’s educational sector.
He was conferred on Padma Shri in 1974.
In 2006, he was selected as an honorary fellow of the Commonwealth of Learning, Vancouver—an intergovernmental organisation under the Commonwealth Heads of Government dedicated to promoting education.
Born on July 3, 1926, in Alappuzha, in Kerala, Fr Kunnunkal joined the Society of Jesus on June 20, 1945.
After completing his schooling, he pursued higher studies in the United States for master’s in English, Educational Administration, and Educational Measurement.
He was ordained a priest on June 18, 1958, at West Baden in the United States, where he had undertaken theological studies.
Padma Shri Fr Thomas V Kunnunkal dies
