Karnataka - Bangalore   

Prof. S. Chandrashekhar dead

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, MARCH 8. Sivaramakrishna Chandrashekhar, Founder-Director of the Centre for Liquid Crystal Research, Bangalore, died today, following a cerebral haemorrhage, an official release from the centre said. He was 73.

A physicist by training, Prof. Chandrashekhar spent the last 30 years studying liquid crystals and their uses. He was credited with predicting and later discovering the existence of "discotic liquid crystals" (comprising disc-like molecules as against the rod-like molecules of other liquid crystals known at the time).

Sodruzhestvo, the Liquid Crystalline Society of the Russian Academy of Sciences, awarded him the V.K. Friedericksz medal for the year 2000. Friederickz (1885-1944) was considered the father of liquid crystals research in Russia. The award, instituted in his memory, is given to two scientists each year. The other scientist who bagged the award for 2000 was A. Sonin.

In 1971, Prof. Chandrashekhar quit as Head of the Department of Physics of Mysore University, a department he had started 10 years earlier. He joined the Raman Research Institute, where he became Professor and Head of the Liquid Crystal Laboratory.

In an article he wrote, titled "The legacy of Sir Lawrence Bragg," is an anecdote about his decision to shift from researching crystals to liquid crystals: "When I was setting up the new department in Mysore, I mentioned this to Bragg (the intention to shift from crystals to liquid crystals), hoping that he would not be too disappointed that I was wandering off into an unfashionable and long forgotten field. His response was, in fact, just the opposite, for which I was truly grateful. He started a serious discussion on the subject and I felt jubilant."

Prof. Chandrashekhar, was the founder-president of the International Liquid Crystal Society and recipient of many awards including the Royal Medal of the Royal Society, U.K., the Neils Bohr Medal and the French Chevalier dans l'ordre des palmes academique. He was also conferred with the Padma Bhushan and the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award. He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka

News: Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Updates: Breaking News |

Stories in this Section

• Prof. S. Chandrashekhar dead
• Mayor prefers slabs to blocks on pavements
• Old pipes cause `drought' in parts of Jeevan Bima Nagar
• COMED-K to go ahead with entrance test
• Six arrested, articles worth Rs. 42 lakh seized
• Woman robbed of gold chain
• Voter cards to be issued today
• Telgi taken to Isolation Hospital
• Animal skins seized
• Water Adalat
• Women entrepreneurs hold exhibition
• Around The City
• In Bangalore Today
• Reporter's Diary

Copyright © 2004, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu