In memory of Bala V. Balachandran

I am very saddened to hear about Bala Balachandran. I wanted him to be around forever. Bala, a man of great knowledge, goodness, and creativity, came into my life at Northwestern University. He was our expert in accounting and yet he wanted to know more about marketing. It was a marvelous relationship because I wanted to learn more about accounting and India.

Bala seemed to know everyone in India. He arranged for a few of my speaking trips to India. What impressed me so much was his idea at the age of 67 to start an American type business school in Chennai, India called Great Lakes Institute of Management. That business school is now one of the top business schools in India. I spoke at Great Lakes whenever the chance arose. I delighted working with Bala's brother, "Seenu" Srinivasan, one of Stanford's top marketing professors who also taught at Great Lakes. Now I wish that I had spent more time with Bala where we both lived part of the year in Evanston, Illinois. It is hard to believe that he is no longer here.

Dr. Philip Kotler