Mangaluru: Former Chairman and Managing Director of the Syndicate Bank and Professor-Emeritus of the Justice K S Hegde Institute of Management, Dr. N. K Thingalaya died on Friday, January 25 at the age of 81. He suffered a heart attack while he was being treated for pneumonia at KMC Hospital and died on Friday evening.

Dr. Thingalaya is survived by two children. His funeral is scheduled to be held on Tuesday, January 29.

After obtaining his postgraduate degree in Economics, he did his doctorate in Intersectoral Price Analysis in 1966 from the Bombay University. He later joined the Syndicate Bank, one of India’s largest public sector banks as an Economic Advisor. Dr. Thingalaya soon rose through the ranks and became Chairman and Managing Director of the bank.

Acknowledged as one of the district’s most brilliant bankers, Dr. Thingalaya had an in-depth knowledge of the field and was the foremost authority on banking history. He also published seven books related to banking and the field’s challenges with regard to globalization.

Following his retirement from the bank, Dr. Thingalaya served as a Professor at the Justice K S Hegde Institute of Management. He dealt with subjects such as Banking, Micro Finance and Rural Development.

During his career, Dr Thingalaya also served as director at the Canbank Investment Management Services Ltd., as a non-executive and independent director of Lamina Foundries Limited since 2003 and Uniflex Cables Ltd. since 2010. He also served as a non-executive director at Apar Industries Limited between 2001 to 2017.