'He was very friendly and always smiling. He used to request me to take care of his parents as he was away in the US,' said P Shrinivas.
Friends of Gopikrishna Podilla, the Indian-American professor hailing from Andhra Pradesh who was killed in a shoot-out at the University of Alabama, US, are shell-shocked hearing the news of his brutal killing.
P Srinivas, a friend and a tenant living in Podilla's house in Kakinada in east Godavari district, said he could not believe that the professor was shot dead by his colleague.
Podilla was among three persons killed when a woman lecturer allegedly opened fire during a faculty meeting at the university yesterday after learning that she had been denied tenure.
"He was very friendly and always smiling. He used to request me to take care of his parents as he was away in the US," Srinivas told PTI.
Podilla had come to Kakinada in December last year when his father expired. He returned to the US after the funeral was over, Srinivas said.
Podilla did his post graduation in Nagarjuna University before joining Andhra University for his PhD. He left for the US in 1980 for further studies, said one of his close friends Prof KRS Sambasiva Rao, a faculty of the Biotechnology Department in Acharya Nagarjuna University in Guntur.
He did his MS in Louisiana and PhD in Indiana State University. Gopi worked in Michigan Technological University (MTU) before joining University of Alabama, Huntsville where he was the Chairman of the Department of Biology.
"He was brilliant in studies. He always ranked first in the class when we both were doing B.Sc in Hindu College," Sambasiva Rao said, adding later Gopi joined Nagarjuna University to pursue M Sc in Botany.
Another friend Subba Rao, who was Podilla's classmate while they were doing M Sc, termed him as one of the best academicians.
In his recent mail Podilla had informed that he had been doing advanced research in genetic engineering, said Subba Rao, who is presently working as Information Scientist in Nagarjuna University.
The brothers of the deceased also are in a state of shock. One of Podilla's brother P Subramanyeswar Rao is employed with Bank of India in Chittoor, another brother PSA Sarma, is a doctor working in Bhilai while the third sibling P Ravi is a pUne-based engineer having an MBA degree.
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