Jamshed Jiji Irani,

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

(2 June 1936 – 31 October 2022) was an Indian industrialist. Educated in

Metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...

, he joined

British Iron and Steel Research Association The British Iron and Steel Research Association or BISRA, formed in 1944, was the research arm of the British steel industry. It had headquarters in London, originally at 11 Park Lane, later moved to 24 Buckingham Gate, with Laboratories in Shef ...

. Later he joined

Tata Steel Tata Steel Limited is an Indian multinational steel-making company, based in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand and headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is a part of the Tata Group. Formerly known as Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited (TISCO), Tata ...

from which he retired in 2007 as the Director. Later he served on the boards of various Tata group companies and others. He received the Padma Bhushan in 2007.

Biography

Irani was born on 2 June 1936. He completed a Bachelor of Science degree from Science College, Nagpur in 1956 and Master of Science degree in Geology from the

Nagpur University Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU), formerly Nagpur University, is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Nagpur, Maharashtra. It is one of India's oldest universities, as well as th ...

in 1958. He completed Masters in Metallurgy in 1960 and PhD in Metallurgy in 1963 from

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

, UK. He joined

as a senior scientific officer in Sheffield in 1963. He was elevated as the head of Physical Metallurgy Division there. Later he returned to India and joined The Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO, now

) in 1968 as an assistant to the Director in-charge of Research and Development. He was promoted as the general superintendent in 1978, general manager in 1979, president in 1985, Managing Director in 1992 and the Director in 1998. He retired from the Tata Steel in 2001. Irani joined the board of Tata Motors in June 1993 and also served as the director with

Tata Sons Tata Sons Private Limited is the parent company of the Tata Group and holds the bulk of shareholding in the Tata group of companies including their land holdings across India, tea estates and steel plants. It is a privately owned conglomerate of ...

. In 2004, the government appointed him as the Chairman of the Expert Committee for formation of the new Companies Act of India. He retired from all the posts of Tata companies in 2011. He was the Chairman of Board of Governors at Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow. He and his sister Diana Hormusjee have instituted Jiji Irani Challenge Cup; a cricket tournament organised by Zorostrian Club of

Secunderabad Secunderabad, also spelled as Sikandarabad (, ), is a twin cities, twin city of Hyderabad and one of the six zones of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Telangana. It ...

; in memory of their father.

Awards

Irani was conferred an honorary

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

(KBE) by Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

in 1997. He received the Padma Bhushan in 2007 from Government of India. He was appointed an International

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senior ...

in 1996.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irani, Jamshed Jiji 1936 births 2022 deaths Alumni of the University of Sheffield Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in trade and industry Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Tata Steel people Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University alumni