Venkatraman Radhakrishnan

Venkataraman Radhakrishnan was a native to Nobel Laureate Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman and his wife, Lokasundari Ammal, in Tondiarpet, a Madras suburb. His early education was at Madras. He entered his bachelor’s degree from Mysore University before joining the Department of Physics at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. Radhakrishnan has been appointed to several national and international scientific organisations. He began designing and flying microlight aircraft in the 1990s. In his final decade, he returned to the water, creating a twin-hulled yacht of his design. He sailed it to Oman after his eightieth birthday, then back west to Malaysia, intending to travel worldwide.

About Venkataraman Radhakrishnan

Venkataraman Radhakrishnan was a part of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and an Indian space scientist. He retired as a professor from the Raman Research Institute in Bangalore, India, where he had formerly served as an administrator from 1972 to 1994, which bears his father’s name. He participated on several committees, notably as vice president of the International Astronomical Union from 1988 to 1994. He was also a foreign colleague of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States. He was a colleague of the Indian Academy of Sciences and an Associate of the Royal Astronomical Society.

From 1955 to 1958, he was a research assistant at the Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden. Before uniting the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation’s Radiophysics Division in Sydney, Australia, He was a senior research colleague at the California Institute of Technology. First as a senior research scientist, then as a principal research scientist.

In 1972, he returned to India and took over as leader of the Raman Research Institute. During his term as leader of the Raman Research Institute from 1972 to 1994, he inaugurated an international reputation for work in liquid crystals, pulsar astronomy, and other areas of cutting-edge astronomy research. Prof. Radhakrishnan was awarded the Doctor Honoris Causa degree by the University of Amsterdam in 1996.

Venkataraman Radhakrishnan worked in various capacities on numerous committees. From 1988 to 1994, he served as Vice President of the International Astronomical Union. He was the head of the International Union of Radio Sciences’ Commission J from 1981 to 1984. He served on the Foreign Advisory Committee of the Netherlands Foundation for Radio Astronomy, the Steering Committee of the Australia Telescope National Facility, Australia, and the Green Bank Radio Telescope Advisory Committee, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, USA. 

He was also a part of the Physical Research Laboratory’s Governing Council and the Inter-University Centre for Astrometry and Astrophysics’ Scientific Advisory Committee. From 1973 to 1981, he was a unit of the Indian National Committee for Astronomy.

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

• The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is Sweden’s royal school. It is an independent, non-governmental scientific organisation that prioritises promoting natural sciences and mathematics and strengthening their influence in society while encouraging the exchange of ideas between various disciplines. It was founded on June 2, 1739.

• The academy’s goals are to be a forum where researchers meet across subject boundaries, to provide support to younger researchers, to reward outstanding research efforts, to communicate internationally among scientists, to advance the case for science within society and to influence research policy priorities, to stimulate interest in mathematics and science in schools, and to disseminate and popularise scientific knowledge.

The National Academy of Sciences

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a non-profit, non-governmental corporation based in the United States. NAS is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academies of Engineering (NAE) and Medicine (NAM).

As a national academy, current members elect new members based on exceptional and sustained achievements in original research. One of the most prestigious scientific honours is the National Academy of Sciences election. National Academy of Sciences members act as “advisers to the country” on a scientific, engineering, and medical basis. The organisation is granted a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) was founded in 1863 due to a congressional act signed by Abraham Lincoln. With the mission of “giving necessary, practical advice to the nation on matters related to science and technology and the purpose of providing scientific advice to the government ‘whenever called upon by any federal department.” The government does not reimburse the academy for its services.

Conclusion

Venkataraman Radhakrishnan gave an invited talk on pulsars at IAU General Assembly, the Oxford University Milne Lecture, and the NRAO Jansky Lecture. He was entitled a Foreign Colleague of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States and a Foreign Colleague of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He served on the counselling boards of great observatories in Australia, the Netherlands, and the United States, as President of the URSI Commission on Radio Astrometry and Vice-President of the International Astronomical Union.