B. Madhusoodana Kurup, Founding Vice-Chancellor of KUFOS, Dies at 71 in Kochi
Fisheries scientist B. Madhusoodana Kurup died of cardiac arrest at Kochi on 18 October 2026, aged 71. He was the founding Vice-Chancellor of the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS), India's first university dedicated to fisheries and ocean studies, and later the third Vice-Chancellor of Shri Venkateshwara University at Gajraula, Uttar Pradesh. For more than 18 years he was Director and Professor at the School of Industrial Fisheries, CUSAT. He discovered eight freshwater fish species from the Western Ghats, guided 22 doctoral scholars and published over 250 research papers and 11 edited books, and held Nuffic and Marie Curie fellowships.
KUFOS, established in 2010 at Panangad, Kochi, is India's first university dedicated to fisheries and ocean studies | The ICAR-Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture, whose research advisory committee Kurup chaired, is headquartered at Chennai | The Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana, launched in 2020, is the Union government's flagship scheme for fisheries development