Manapurathu Verghese George (3 October 1928 - 9 December 2019) was an Indian photochemist and an Emeritus professor of the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST). He was known for establishing the Photochemistry Research Unit at NIIST and his studies on the mechanism of organic reactions. He is a recipient of the 1992 TWAS Award and an elected fellow of The World Academy of Sciences, the Indian National Science Academy and the Indian Academy of Sciences. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1973, for his contributions to chemical sciences.

Biography

M. V. George, born on 3 October 1928 in the south Indian state of Kerala, graduated in chemistry from Madras University in 1948 and moved to Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University (then known as Agra University) from where he secured his master's degree in 1951. He did his doctoral studies at

St. John's College, Agra St. John's College is a constituent college of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University, located in Agra. It is a Christian college under the Church of North India. It was established by the Church Mission Society to Agra. The college admits both und ...

of Agra University under the guidance of P. I. Ittyerah, a former principal of the college, and after securing PhD in 1954, he did his post-doctoral studies at various colleges in the US, UK, Germany and Canada. He returned to India in 1963 and started his career as a member of faculty at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He stayed at the institution for quarter of a century until 1988 during which period he headed the Department of Chemistry from 1966 to 1969, succeeding

C. N. R. Rao Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao BR, (born 30 June 1934), is an Indian chemist who has worked mainly in solid-state and structural chemistry. He has honorary doctorates from 84 universities from around the world and has authored around 1,77 ...

. Returning to his home state of Kerala in 1988, he joined the Regional Research Laboratory of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (present-day National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology) as an emeritus professor and served the institution until his superannuation from service. In between, he had various stints at University of Notre Dame as a visiting professor during 1978–2001.

Legacy

The main focus of George's researches were centered on the mechanical implications of the thermal and photochemical organic reactions. His studies covered different areas of

organometallic chemistry Organometallic chemistry is the study of organometallic compounds, chemical compounds containing at least one chemical bond between a carbon atom of an organic molecule and a metal, including alkali, alkaline earth, and transition metals, and so ...

and he worked on electron transfer processes, organic reactions and functional group transformations. Thus he studied the organic reactions and functional group transformations, heterohexa-1, 3, 5-triene systems with regard to its electrocyclic reactions and the synthetic utility and phototransformations of dibenzobarrelenes. He also studied the

picosecond A picosecond (abbreviated as ps) is a unit of time in the International System of Units (SI) equal to 10−12 or (one trillionth) of a second. That is one trillionth, or one millionth of one millionth of a second, or 0.000 000 000 ...

laser flash photolysis techniques and the transient intermediates involved in photoreactions. He was noted for the original approach in his studies of hetero-aromatic systems. George published his researches through over 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals and guided a number of doctoral and post-doctoral scholars in their researches. He has contributed chapters to ''Handbook of Chemistry and Physics'', edited by

and his works have been cited by various authors in their publications. He pioneered photochemistry research at National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology and established the Photochemistry Research Unit at the institution. He was a collaborator of C. N. R. Rao in popularizing science education at academic levels and is associated, as the executive director, with the ''Foundation for Capacity Building in Science (FCBS)'' initiative which promotes science education among Indian students through seminars and workshops. He also served as a member of the council of the Indian National Science Academy from 1989 to 1991.

Awards and honors

The Indian Academy of Sciences elected George as a fellow in 1973 before he became an elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy in 1975. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1973. He received the C. V. Raman Award in 1985 and the Professor T. R. Seshadri 70th Birthday Commemoration Medal of the Indian National Science Academy in 1990. The World Academy of Sciences awarded him the

TWAS Prize This is a list of recipients of the TWAS Prize, awarded annually by The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). Summary Agricultural Sciences Biology Chemistry Earth Sciences Engineering Sciences Mathematics Medical Sc ...

in 1992 and two years later, elected him as their fellow. He is also a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the

Chemical Research Society of India Chemical Research Society of India (CRSI) is an India based scientific society dedicated to field of chemistry. It was established in 1999 as a part of celebrating India's 50th anniversary of independence. C. N. R. Rao Chintamani Nagesa Ra ...

and a life member of the society.

Selected bibliography

Books

Articles

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Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:George, Manapurathu Verghese Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Chemical Science 1928 births 2019 deaths Scientists from Kerala Malayali people Indian organic chemists Photochemists Indian scientific authors Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University alumni University of Madras alumni University of Toronto alumni Iowa State University alumni Academics of Imperial College London Ohio State University alumni Academic staff of IIT Kanpur University of Notre Dame faculty Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy TWAS fellows TWAS laureates 20th-century Indian chemists