Hari Dang (1935-2016) was an Indian educationist and a mountaineer. While at

The Doon School The Doon School (informally Doon School or Doon) is a selective all-boys boarding school in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, which was established in 1935. It was envisioned by Satish Ranjan Das, a lawyer from Calcutta, who prevised a school mode ...

, he led the schoolboys on the first Indian expedition to Mt.

Jaonli Jaonli is a 6,632-metre peak in the Gangotri range of Garhwal Himalaya. It was first climbed in 1965 by The Doon School expedition team led by Hari Dang. See also *Role of The Doon School in Indian mountaineering The role of The Doon School i ...

(6,632 m) in 1965.

Education

Dang was schooled at Modern School, Delhi, and then went to

St. Stephen's College, Delhi St. Stephen's College is a constituent college of the University of Delhi, widely regarded as one of the oldest and most prestigious colleges for arts and sciences in India. It was established in 1881 by the Cambridge Mission to Delhi. The college ...

where he received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in chemistry. He graduated in 1955.

Career

Dang worked as a journalist with ''

The Statesman A statesman or stateswoman typically is a politician who has had a long and respected political career at the national or international level. Statesman or Statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States * ''The Statesman'' (Oregon), a n ...

'' in Kolkata before joining

in 1959 as a chemistry teacher. At Doon, he led the boys on many mountaineering expeditions, including the first ascent of Jaonli peak. He left Doon in 1970 to become the principal of

The Air Force School The Air Force School (TAFS), formerly known as Air Force Central School (AFCS), was set up primarily to provide education to the children of Indian Air Force personnel. It was founded in 1955 by the Air Marshal Subroto Mukherjee, the Chief ...

in New Delhi. He remained there for seven years and then took up the post of Rector at St. Paul's School, Darjeeling in 1977. He left St. Paul's in 1984 to head the

Army Public School, Dhaula Kuan The Army Public School, Dhaula Kuan is a public school located at Delhi, India. It is operated under Indian Army supervision under the aegis of Indian Army welfare Education society (AWES). It is part of the chain of Indian Army Public Schools ...

in New Delhi, where he remained till 1990. After retiring as principal in 1990, Dang served on various education boards and worked towards establishing model primary schools in rural, tribal and tribal areas of India.

Mountaineering expeditions

While at Doon School, Dang led the schoolboys on many mountaineering expeditions. Having failed thrice, Dang led the first successful expedition to Jaonli (6,632m) with the schoolboys. In 1962, Dang was a member of the first non-Sherpa Indian expedition to

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...

, which was led by John Dias. Due to a snow blizzard, the party had to turn back 150 metres from the summit.

Awards

Dang was awarded the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

in 1976 for his services in education.

References

{{The Doon School The Doon School faculty St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni Indian mountain climbers 1935 births 2016 deaths