Growing up in India as the bright, inquisitive son of a physicist father, Alok Srivastava was destined for a career in academia. But chances are he never imagined it would be halfway around the world in Atlanta.
Recruited in 1986 by Georgia State University's J. Mack Robinson School of Business after earning his Ph.D. from Clemson University at age 26, he came to Atlanta to teach, but also to explore ideas, to analyze business decision-making processes, and to seek practical applications. He became an innovative professor, enormously popular with his students and an inspirational mentor in a high-powered GSU management-skills program.
Alok Srivastava, 49, of Atlanta died June 18 at DeKalb Medical of complications from diabetes. A celebration of his life will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Cafe Bombay, 1622 Woodcliff Drive, Atlanta. Wages & Sons, Stone Mountain Chapel, was in charge of arrangements.
"Alok wasn't so much a teacher as a facilitator," said Ken Levine of Alpharetta, a GSU colleague. "He challenged his students to be self-learners. Many of them thought he walked on water."
Mr. Srivastava also encouraged participants in GSU's Lean Six Sigma program to be risk-takers. Rather than assign them to work on a project to fix some minor glitch at their respective companies, Mr. Srivastava would urge them to go to their CEOs and find a major problem that needed solving. Most participants would play it safe and stick with a minor matter, Mr. Levine said, but those who followed his advice found themselves on a promotion fast track.
Another GSU colleague, Satish Nargundkar of Atlanta, said Mr. Srivastava was one of the earliest adopters of the Internet in the classroom. "Alok was a visionary who advocated the use of information technology and analytics as strategic competitive tools for business, long before these ideas were commonplace," he said.
Kirti Srivastava of Hyderabad, India, said her brother Alok was a very intelligent child, winning prizes in elocution and debate. He loved contemporary music, she said, especially Simon and Garfunkel, the Beatles and Pink Floyd, and kept posters of them in his room.
"Alok went to Catholic school in Hyderabad but was raised as a Hindu," she said. "Still, he believed there was wisdom in all the major religions and read all their teachings."
Surech Prabhu of Atlanta, a former GSU professor, said Mr. Srivastava was one of those rare men who is comfortable with people in all stations of life.
"Alok went out of his way to help people," Mr. Prabhu said. "He would encounter a panhandler downtown and instead of giving him a handout, he would buy him lunch, talk with him about what led him to a life on the street, and urge him to turn his life around."
Pamela Srivastava of Decatur, his ex-wife, said a favorite diversion of his was simply to sit with another person and philosophize, especially with their son, Ravi, a rising senior at Paideia School.
"Dad and I often had conversations that were philosophical in nature," his son said. "He liked the Crosby, Stills and Nash song ‘Teach Your Children,' especially the line that urged those of tender age to teach their parents. Most parents don't think about learning from their kids, but Dad thought otherwise. For his part, rather than being a commanding parent, Dad would explain why certain behaviors were important."
Survivors also include his father and mother, Bikram and Indra Srivastava of Hyderabad, and a brother, Ajay Srivastava of Hyderabad.
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