Prafulla N. Joglekar, 62, La Salle professor

Prafulla N. Joglekar, 62, of Elkins Park, a La Salle University teacher for four decades, died of septic shock Monday at Abington Memorial Hospital.

Dr. Joglekar was chairman of the management department at La Salle on three occasions, a spokeswoman said, most recently from 2005 until earlier this year.

At the time of his death, Dr. Joglekar was the Lindback Distinguished Professor of Operations Management at La Salle.

He founded the Applied Research Center in La Salle's School of Business in 1979, the spokeswoman said, and served as its director until 1985. With a three-year grant from the William Penn Foundation, it ran a management-training program for 120 executives from nonprofit agencies in the region.

Born in Nagpur in the Indian state of Maharashtra, he earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics at Nagpur University and his MBA at the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad. He worked from 1968 to 1970 as an analyst at the Indian Atomic Energy Commission.

In 1978, Dr. Joglekar earned his doctorate from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Before completing his Wharton studies, Dr. Joglekar had begun his 37-year career at La Salle in 1972, during which he taught decisionmaking, organizational behavior, and business problem-solving.

Dr. Joglekar's work was published in the International Journal of Integrated Supply Management, Journal of Business and Economic Studies, and Management Science, among other publications.

A son, Ajinkya, said that from 1988 to 1990 his father was vice president of the Nonprofit Management Association. It merged in 1998 with Support Centers of America.

He was a consultant to the GE Foundation, NASA, the National Science Foundation, and other organizations. In 1978 and 1979, he was president of the Philadelphia Marathi Mandal, a fellowship organization of families from Maharashtra.

His son said that when Dr. Joglekar was young, he was active in theater, performing in the occasional shows that the Marathi Mandal staged at school auditoriums.

His interest carried over to encouraging his son as a drummer in the band MJ Project, which, an Inquirer reviewer in 2004 reported, performed a mixture of jazz, funk, and groove. Ajinkya Joglekar, now studying for an MBA, said his father attended the group's breakup performance in Old City this month.

Besides his son, Dr. Joglekar is survived by his wife, Suvarna, and another son, Aditya.

The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. tomorrow at Huff & Lakjer Funeral Home, 701 Derstine Ave., Lansdale.