Death of Dr. S.K. (Mickey) Hulbe
#india
We are deeply saddened with the news of the death of Dr. S.K. (Mickey) Hulbe. He passed away on December 19 after a brief illness. He was 87 years old.
Hulbe was most noted for his leadership of the appropriate technology movement in India. He was a professor at Ahmednagar College, director of its Center for Studies in Rural Development, and a member of the All-India Planning Commission. In partnership with the United Church of Christ and its Board for World Ministries, he made regular trips to the U.S. where he preached and lectured at scores of local churches and wider-church meetings through the years.
Mickey was an orphan adopted by Ruth Andrews, a missionary nurse in Wai, India. Professing his faith and being baptized as a young person, he led his life as a disciple of Christ. He completed a BA at Ahmednagar College, then came to the U.S. to earn a PhD in Economics from the University of Texas, and returned to India to teach.
He worked in collaboration with Amednagar College, a Global Ministries partner to create and fulfilled the Rural Life Development Program (RLDP) which was started in 1961. Because of this life-long passion for development his contribution was extraordinary to the field of social work education, community work and rural development in India.
Through his leadership, the RLDP program, renamed the Centre for Studies in Rural Development (CSRD), grew into a Certificate course in Community Development, a one year post graduate course in social work, a two year Master of Social Work in ’74 and ultimately the Institute of Social Work & Research with Prof. Dr. SK Hulbe as its first full-time Director.
In his fifty plus years of work, Dr. Hulbe’s program resulted in revitalizing education in India by relating to the needs of its rural surroundings. The program of study was to create a core team of well-informed staff to undertake responsibilities for rural community development.
Ahmednagar College founded in 1947, with the support and cooperation of a predecessor body of Global Ministries, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission, was a pioneering educational effort to open learning opportunities for the poor students of Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India. In the 6 decades of its existence the strength of students has grown from 300 to 8000.
His life-long commitment and love of rural development will continue to live on for so many.
Hulbe is survived by his loving daughter, Jayashree Raghuram and faithful brother, Bill Eklund. Please keep his family and colleagues in your prayers.