Dr.Pankaj was born in Maradu village (now part of Kochi Corporation), as the son of Shri.S.Sankara Panicker and K. Kunji Amma. He had his studies in the Mangayil High School, Maradu, and Maharaja's College, Ernakulam (1953-58), and the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune (1959-63). He received his PhD in Economics from the University of Pune in 1964. After a period of service with the Government of India in Goa and Delhi, he was selected as Economics Affairs Officer in the United Nations Office (UNCTAD), Geneva, during 1972, where he worked for two years. Subsequently, he got selection as an Economist in the World Bank in Washington, U.S.A. During his 25 years of service in the World Bank, he held many senior positions, retiring as Principal Economist(infrastructure) in the South Asia Region of the World Bank. As Projects Manager, he has helped prepare and manage several development projects in the field of improving rural and urban infrastructure, with special emphasis on helping the poor, in some 15 countries in Africa, Middle East, and South Asia. He retired from the World Bank in 1999 and worked as an international consultant for 5 years. He now lives in Washington, but also keeps a residence in India and spends about 2 months in India every year.

The above rigorous socio-economic evaluation helps to find truly meritorious and yet financially poor students who could otherwise not have gone for higher studies. Feedback received from scholarship recipients who have completed studies confirms that even this modest amount provided by the scholarships has been a great help for their studies.

Click here for a personal profile of Dr. Pankaj as published by the "The Hindu" (Metro Edition) dated November 4, 2001.