Noted historian, academic and public intellectual KN Panikkar passed away in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, aged 89. Professor Panikkar joined the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in 1972 and went on to serve as Dean of the School of Social Sciences. After retirement, he shifted to Kerala and served as Vice-Chancellor of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit.