Professor Gurumurthy Neelakantan was conferred the Distinguished Alumnus Award (EMMI Award) for 2015 by his alma mater St. Joseph’s Higher Secondary School for his significant contributions to literary studies and humanities education of the country. Some of the other awardees include Dr. C.K. Rajkumar, innovative entrepreneur, Dr. Duraiswamy, consultant urologist and andrologist at Apollo Chennai, Dr. P. Basumani, gastroenterologist at Fortis Malar Hospital Chennai, Mr. G. Mathivathanan, IAS, commissioner-cum-secretary, Housing and Urban Development Department, Orissa. The award includes a silver plaque and a shawl.