DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
PANJAB UNIVERSITY, CHANDIGARH
EMINENT SCHOLAR PASSES AWAY
NT24
NEWS
PUJA
GUPTA
CHANDIGARH
Dr
Rajesh Kochhar passed away on 13th March after a brief
illness. Professor
Kochhar had been a Jawaharlal Fellow, a Fulbright Visiting Lecturer, a Visiting
Scholar at University of Cambridge Department of History and Philosophy of
Science; and honorary professor of History of Science and Technology at
National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore. He was the recipient of
National Academy of Sciences India’s Professor R.C. Gupta Endowment History of
Science Lecture Award and Indian National Science Academy’s 2014 Indira Gandhi
Prize for Popularization of Science. Professor
Rajesh Kochhar was an Honorary Professor, Panjab University Mathematics
Department and Co-Convenor of the Panjab University Ruchi Ram Sahni 150th Birth
Anniversary Celebrations Committee. He obtained
his M.Sc. Honour School in Physics in 1967 and PhD. in 1973, both from
Panjab University, Chandigarh, where he began his career as a lecturer. He was
a Professor at Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore, in 1999, when he moved
over to New Delhi to take charge as Director NISTADS: National Institute of
Science, Technology and Development Studies, New Delhi (CSIR). He had
also been a Professor of Pharmaceutical Heritage in NIPER: National Institute
of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (Government of India), Mohali. Professor Kochhar published original research
in a number of fields: history and sociology of science & technology;
science and education policy; ancient Indian history; and modern astronomy and astrophysics. He authored a number of books, saliently, The Vedic People ( Orient Black Swan), English Education in India, 1715-1835
(Routledge),and Sanskrit & British Empire ( Routledge). His views had
been sought and published by magazines like Science and Nature as also by BBC
Radio. He had lectured extensively
in India and abroad including Harvard, Cornell, University of Texas at Austin,
Belfast, Brighton, Royal Dublin Society, Tubingen, Copenhagen University and
National Museum Copenhagen. He delivered a number of commemorative
lectures including the 67th J.C. Bose Memorial Lecture at Bose Institute
Kolkata and Akshoy Datta Memorial Lecture at Indian Association for the
Cultivation of Science, Kolkata. He also contributed articles in The Hindu, The
Tribune, Indian Express, Times of India and other newspapers over the years.
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