Dr. Nailady Sridhar Shetty was born on the 9th of July, 1941 in a small township named Kundapur located in Dakshina Kannada, India. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Dental Surgery at the Government Dental College, Bangalore, then under the Bangalore University. In 1965 he took up the post of lecturer in the Government Dental College at Bangalore. On completion of his Master’s degree in Dental Surgery from the Government Dental College, Mumbai under the Mumbai University, he was promoted to the post of Assistant professor at the Government Dental College, Bangalore where he became one of the most popular teachers, and worked there till December, 1978. He then went on to work at the Nairobi University, Kenya, where he was appointed as the Head and Senior Lecturer of the Department, for one year, and then moved to the Khartoum University, Sudan where he worked an additional 5 years.

In 1985, Dr. Shetty returned to Mangalore, India, where he presently resides; to take up the post of the Founder Dean at A.B. Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences. He worked ardently at this post till 2007, when he retired from being the Dean, yet continues to work as the Director, Professor (Undergraduate and Postgraduate) and Ph.D. guide.

To his achievements are attributed the longest tenure of 42 years of teaching in the faculty of Prosthodontics, the longest tenure of 21 years as the Dean of a single college, the post of President of the Dental Council of India (between 09-10-1995 to 16-01-1998) and the honour of establishing one of the most reputed dental institutions in the country. He is also the proud recipient of the Dr. B.C. Roy National Award which he was laurelled with in 1996. He is amongst the few privileged professors to have guided 125 post graduate students during their MDS course.

A man with a heart of gold and compassion towards the less fortunate, Dr. Shetty conceptualized and implemented a project named ‘Institutionalized Approach – Total Health Care for Rural and Semi Urban Population at The Door Step – Free Of Cost’. The project entails taking dental and medical treatment to the less fortunate people who lack such treatment owing to constraints like awareness, availability, affordability and accessibility. Utilizing the manpower and facilities of the dental college, and the whole hearted support of Mr. N.V. Hegde, President, Nitte Education Trust, Dr. Shetty has been able to set up 13 satellite centers in villages located in Dakshina Kannada, where thousands of people avail quality dental treatment absolutely free of cost.