Prof. P.Mohanan Pillai served the Centre with great distinction as a faculty member for about three decades during 1983- 2011. Thereafter he was serving as an Honorary Fellow of the Centre. He has made an important contribution to the understanding of issues related to technology transfer in Indian industries. He was the member of 9th Pay Revision Commission of Govt. of Kerala headed by Justice R. Rajendra Babu. He is very well known to be an extremely kind and generous person and an excellent research student supervisor. Professor  Pillai passed away in Thiruvananthapuram on 29 June 2021. In recognition of his significant contributions, Professor Pillai’s family has generously established an endowment in his name. The annual interest from this endowment will be utilized to organize special lectures every two years and the first lecture will be held on 23 August 2024.