Sivaraj Ramseshan (10 October 1923 – 29 December 2003) was an Indian scientist known for his work in the field of crystallography. Ramaseshan served as director of the

Indian Institute of Science The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a public, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bengaluru, in the Indian state of Karnataka. The institute wa ...

and was awarded the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

. Ramaseshan is the nephew of Indian scientist and Nobel laureate

Sir C. V. Raman Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (; 7 November 188821 November 1970) was an Indian physicist known for his work in the field of light scattering. Using a spectrograph that he developed, he and his student K. S. Krishnan discovered that when ...

and cousin of

Subramanyan Chandrasekhar Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (; ) (19 October 1910 – 21 August 1995) was an Indian-American theoretical physicist who spent his professional life in the United States. He shared the 1983 Nobel Prize for Physics with William A. Fowler for "... ...

Early life

Ramaseshan was born on 10 October 1923, in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

to Sitalakshmi, sister of Indian scientist Sir C. V. Raman. He had his schooling in Nagpur and started his forays into science as a research student under his uncle, Sir C. V. Raman.

As scientist

On completion of his doctorate, Ramaseshan joined the Indian Institute of Science as a lecturer. During this time, he developed an interest in X-ray crystallography and was instrumental in improving the material science division in the National Aerospace Laboratories. Ramaseshan also taught as a professor in the

Indian Institute of Technology The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are central government owned public technical institutes located across India. They are under the ownership of the Ministry of Education of the Government of India. They are governed by the Institu ...

Positions held

In 1979, Ramaseshan was appointed joint-director of the Indian Institute of Science and in 1981 became its director. He served as the director of IISc from 1981 to 1984, as president of the Indian Academy of Sciences (1983–1985), and honorary distinguished professor emeritus at the Raman Research Institute (1984–2003).

Awards

In 1966, Ramaseshan was awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award. This was followed by the Vasvik Award in 1980 and the INSA Aryabhata Medal in 1985. Ramaseshan is also a recipient of the Padma Bhushan.

Publications

Ramaseshan co-authored a biography of his uncle, C. V. Raman, with Raman himself and also edited two collections of Raman's writings.

Death

Ramaseshan died on 29 December 2003, at the age of 80. He was survived by his wife, Kausalya, who was a great-granddaughter of

V. S. Srinivasa Sastri Valangaiman Sankaranarayana Srinivasa Sastri (22 September 1869 – 17 April 1946) was an Indian politician, administrator, educator, orator and Indian independence activist. He was acclaimed for his oratory and command over the English langua ...

, and by three daughters.

References

* *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramaseshan, S. 1923 births 2003 deaths Directors of the Indian Institute of Science Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in science & engineering Indian crystallographers Chandrasekhar family Scientists from Chennai 20th-century Indian physicists