MUMBAI, Sept. 28 -- Pioneering social work educator, champion of gender justice, and former University Grants Commission (UGC) chairperson and director of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Dr Armaity Desai, breathed her last in the early hours of Saturday. She was 91. The last rites were performed that afternoon, attended by grieving colleagues, students, and former students who had gone on to become her colleagues-a testament to the intergenerational bonds she nurtured through a lifetime in teaching and social work. Her stewardship of TISS during the 1993 Latur earthquake relief marked one of the institute's defining chapters. When the government urged TISS to set up a permanent base to support affected communities, she championed the idea of a rural campus-at a time when bureaucrats laughed at her demand for allocating land in drought-prone Marathwada. Unfazed, she insisted: "If we are to train social workers for India, they must understand the India that suffers the most. Where better than here?" It was vintage Desai: education not for privilege, but for purpose. Colleagues remember her as a teacher, mentor, and institution-builder rolled into one. "With her passing, India has lost not only an institution-builder but also a conscience-keeper, someone who never stopped asking difficult questions of herself, her students and her country," said Prof Shalini Bharat, herself a former TISS director. For many, she was both formidable and gentle. "She had that rare ability to balance rigour with warmth-demanding clarity of thought while insisting that empathy was as essential to social work as knowledge," said activist Medha Patkar, recalling lessons she absorbed while working with Mumbai's urban poor. "Even in her later years, meeting her was a delight-her sharp mind, dry humour, and unwavering concern for India's most vulnerable were unshakeable." Born into a family of progressive thinkers, Armaity inherited her mother Tehmina Desai's feminist spirit. As principal of the Tata School in Navsari, Tehmina defied Parsi orthodoxy by challenging taboos around menstruation, encouraging girls to attend classes, and even opening her home to those whose families resisted. That insistence on dignity and justice shaped Armaity's worldview. Her brother, the visionary Xerxes Desai, revolutionised Indian industry through Titan and Tanishq, blending corporate innovation with social responsibility. Armaity carried that ethic into education and social work. Her career spanned eras-from Nehruvian nation-building to liberalisation and beyond. She headed Nirmala Niketan College of Social Work, led TISS with distinction, and later, as chairperson of UGC, helped shape higher education policy. "She occupied senior positions in academia and policy, but titles never defined her as much as her commitment did," noted gender equality advocate Dr A L Sharada. Theatreperson Dolly Thakore, who knew her for over five decades, agreed: "What set her apart was her insistence that social institutions must not be ivory towers." Indeed, Desai's work consistently bridged theory with lived experience, the classroom with the community. International recognition came with the Katherine Kendall Award from the International Association of Schools of Social Work in 1992, for promoting gender equality in social work education. "She established the standard for incorporating gender justice long before these became buzzwords," recalled Prof Lata Narayan of TISS. Whether in her teaching, field work in India and the USA, or administrative leadership, she insisted that gender equality be woven into the fabric of education and practice. Anjali Monteiro, documentary filmmaker and former head of Media Studies at TISS, said Desai's leadership was marked by an unusual combination of precision and compassion. "Her honesty, people-centred approach, and attention to detail were legendary-whether it was hostel curtains or the colour of walls," Monteiro remembered. "But what truly stood out was the trust she built. Everyone felt they could approach her-whether it was a spouse seeking refuge from violence, a child wanting to confide, or a colleague disagreeing with her." Even as frailty set in during her final years, her voice remained resolute. She continued to write, speak, and advise younger colleagues, reminding them of the purpose behind their work: to centre the marginalised, to question injustice, to resist complacency....