September 6, 2007

Longtime Cal State Fullerton professor dies
Gangadharappa Nanjundappa led faculty union for 12 years and ran for Assembly.
By MARLA JO FISHER
The Orange County Register

FULLERTON – Cal State Fullerton officials have scheduled an Oct. 5 memorial service for longtime sociology professor Gangadharappa Nanjundappa, who died Monday of a heart condition.

Nanjundappa, 67, spent the past 12 years battling for the rights of professors and other faculty as president of CSUF's chapter of the California Faculty Association.

"Cal State Fullerton has experienced a tremendous loss," CSUF President Milton A. Gordon said in a prepared statement. "In all of his activities, working in CFA and on faculty issues, Dr. Nanjundappa always exhibited an all-encompassing vision and always had the university at heart. He was a wonderful colleague, and I will really miss him."

Nanjundappa, on the faculty at Fullerton for 35 years, taught human ecology, the sociology of occupations, social and population problems, social science research methods and techniques of population analysis.

He died Monday at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla where he was being treated for a heart condition.

Originally from India, the professor known around campus as "Nanjun" came to the U.S. in 1968 to study sociology. He joked that, during those years, he carried a bottle of hot sauce around with him to spice up the bland American food.

Diana Guerin, chair of the California State University, Fullerton, Academic Senate, said that the professor known as "Nanjun" kept photos of Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi above his desk.

"We have lost a truly dedicated member of our Titan family," Guerin said.

Nanjundappa was a member of the Orange County Democratic Central Committee. He ran for the state Assembly in 2000 and 2002 as the Democratic candidate for the 72nd District.

He is survived by his daughter, Gita.

A campus memorial service for Nanjundappa is scheduled from 3 to 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5, at the Golleher Alumni House at Cal State Fullerton, 800 N. State College Blvd., Fullerton.

To get involved:

The CSUF sociology department has invited people to submit memories of the professor. They can be sent to:

G. Nanjundappa Memories, Department of Sociology, Room H – 730 – M, California State University, Fullerton, Fullerton, CA 92834, or e-mail to sociology@fullerton.edu, subject line: Nanjun Memories.