Juran Krishna Sarkhel, a senior professor of library and information science, died of cardiac arrest while introducing keynote speakers at a national seminar in Kalyani University on Saturday. He was 63.

Sarkhel, a former interim registrar and vice-chancellor of the university, collapsed on the podium around 12.30pm. “After the inaugural programme, professor Sarkhel delivered an introductory speech. He later started introducing the keynote speakers. Then he apparently had pain in the chest. He collapsed before anybody could figure out what was going on. He was rushed to the hospital but it was too late,” said a student present at the seminar titled “Libraries in Next Era: Digital Learning Landscape”.

Sarkhel, a resident of Rishra in Hooghly, was a former director of the university’s distance learning department. He had also served for two decades at Vidyasagar University.

Sarkhel had obtained MLIS and PhD from Jadavpur University. He had also served as a Visiting Scientist in the Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore, and was a board member in many universities.

Kalyani University's vice-chancellor Sankar Kumar Ghosh and many teachers and students rushed to the hospital to pay their tributes to Sarkhel.

Sumit Mukherjee, former dean of arts, described Sarkhel as a great teacher. “He was also a sensitive person. His death is a great loss to students. Personally, it is an irreparable loss for me.”

Sarkhel is survived by wife Gouri, a teacher of Bengali literature, and two children.