Rice Mourns Loss of Teacher

Rice Mourns Loss of Teacher

BY DAVID KAPLAN
Rice News Staff
May 28, 1998

The Rice community mourns the loss of Venkatesh Kulkarni, a renowned novelist
and beloved teacher in the Rice School of Continuing Studies. He died on May
3 after a yearlong battle with leukemia. He was 52.

Kulkarni was the author of articles, essays, poems and stories, and was the
winner of the 1984 American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation for
his novel "Naked in Deccan." The novel was named one of the top 10
novels of the decade by the Chicago Tribune.

Kulkarni taught novel writing in the School of Continuing Studies for 12 years,
and was known for his ability to inspire his students, according to Laura Hsu,
assistant dean of Continuing Studies. The School of Continuing Studies has established
the Venkatesh Kulkarni Teaching Prize which recognizes superior teaching.

Kulkarni was a graduate of Osmania University in India, and completed his master’s
degree by the age of 19 and then became a full-time professor at an Indian university.
He studied at several universities including Cambridge University, the University
of Moscow, the University of Heidelberg, the Sorbonne and Tulane University.

He is survived by his wife Margaret and their three sons and daughter.