In 1983, he was a professor and the head of the history department at the University of Mangalore and was also awarded a professorship at Calicut.

He was appointed head of the history department in Calicut in 1991 and in June 1998 became vice-chancellor,[1] at a time when the university was suffering from a decline in staff due to numerous retirements.

The tertiary bodies were all situated in relatively remote areas and formed part of his "Knowledge for Villages" vision.

The Malabar Institute of Research and Development is another Kurup innovation, begun at Vatakara in 2002 while he was still vice-chancellor.

He specialises in agrarian relations, colonial history and folklore, especially in the region of Kerala, which used to be a part of Malabar.