Browsing: Obituary

Fr. Edward Hugh McGrath, SJ, one of the founding fathers of XLRI, is no more. He passed away on August 4 after prolonged illness. He was 95 years old. He came to India in 1949 when he was 26. He was born in New York to Dr John F McGrath and Lillian McGrath on January 7, 1923. At 36, Fr McGrath became the second director of XLRI in 1959. XLRI was born to strengthen industrial India, and bring in ethical management practices strengthening both the  trade unions and personnel managers. He held the position till 1962 and had his second stint as the director between 1981 and 1982. He conducted several courses for management and trade union groups at XLRI. During the 60s, XLRI, under his leadership, started offering courses for unions in collaboration with the steel unions at the Steel Worker College.

In 1987 Fr McGrath moved to the Human Life Centre in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, and took over as director there. He developed vocational training courses, such as written and spoken English, computer operating, tailoring, and carpentry among others.