Former Karnataka chief secretary and minister J Alexander died on Friday after a brief illness. He was 83.

Hailing from Kerala, Alexander joined the IAS in 1963 and went on to become chief secretary of Karnataka State in 1992. After retirement, he joined Congress and was elected as MLA from the erstwhile Bharatinagar constituency in Bengaluru. Later, he served as tourism minister in the SM Krishna government.

Mr. J. Alexander was serving as the Global Ethics Committee Chairman of World Malayalee Council.