MANGALURU : Age no bar, Bengaluru professor gets his PhD at 79

MANGALURU : To quote Einstein, knowledge is limited but imagination encircles the world. Bengaluru resident and a professor of four decades, Prabhakar Kuppahalli, imagined big in his pursuit of knowledge and on Wednesday received his PhD in material science. He is 79.“It was a long-cherished dream. Though I had planned it when I was younger and working in the US, it did not come about because of unavoidable circumstances. When I turned 75, I decided to give it a go,” he said after the 41st annual convocation of Mangalore University.
In 2017, he joined the PhD programme in Bengaluru’s Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering, where he’s a visiting teacher. Five years on, he has “finally fulfilled my dream”. Foremost in his thoughts on his big day was his guide R Keshavmurthy, a mechanical engineering professor: “It was he who pushed me hard to pursue my dream.” For his part, Keshavmurthy said Prabhakar was a visiting faculty member without a PhD, but no one could beat him in research.
Prabhakar is of 1944 vintage, but age is not a factor as he continues to guide students, writing heavily on an array of research work and publishing them in top science journals. He graduated in engineering from IISc Bangalore in 1966, worked in IIT Bombay for a few years, and moved to the US. He completed his master’s degree from University of Pittsburgh in 1976 and worked there for 15 years, before returning to India. Prabhakar’s wife Pushpa Prabha is a homemaker and their son is an IT professional.

Prabhakar did not seek or accept any concessions over his age while pursuing PhD, his guide and Mangalore University faculty say.

“I can recall that during the course-work exam, which is a three-hour assessment, considering his age, the department had provided him with a comfortable chair. But Prabhakar refused any preferential treatment and used the normal chair, just like the other candidates,” said Manjunatha Pattabi who heads the university’s materials science department.

As he received his PhD, Kuppahalli recalled the crucial role of his guide R Keshavmurthy, a mechanical engineering professor, saying, “It was he who pushed me hard to pursue my dream.” For his part, Keshavmurthy said Prabhakar was a visiting faculty member without a PhD, but no one could beat him in research.

Prabhakar is of 1944 vintage, but age is not a factor as he continues to guide students, writing heavily on an array of research work and publishing them in top science journals.

He graduated in engineering from IISc Bangalore in 1966, worked in IIT Bombay for a few years, and moved to the US. He completed his master’s degree from University of Pittsburgh in 1976 and worked there for 15 years, before returning to India.