R.A. MASHELKAR
Eminent Scientist and Padma Vibhushan
Dr. R.A. Mashelkar, National Research Professor, served as the Director General of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), with thirty eight laboratories and about 20,000 employees (1995-2006).
He was also the President of Indian National Science Academy (2004-2006), President of UK Institution of Chemical Engineers (2007) as also the President of Global Research Alliance.
42 universities from around the world have honored him with honorary doctorates, which include Universities of London, Salford, Pretoria, Wisconsin, Swinburne, Monash and Delhi.
Dr. Mashelkar is only the third Indian engineer to have been elected (1998) as Fellow of Royal Society (FRS), London in the twentieth century. He was elected Foreign Associate of US National Academy of Science (2005) and also National Academy of Engineering (2003), Associate Foreign Member, American Academy of Arts & Sciences (2011), Fellow of Royal Academy of Engineering, U.K. (1996), Foreign Fellow of Australian Technological Science and Engineering Academy (2008), Corresponding Member of Australian Academy of Sciences (2017), Fellow of World Academy of Arts & Science, USA (2000), Fellow of US National Academy of Inventors (2017), the first ever Indian from India to be elected and TWAS-Lenovo Science Prize (2018), which is considered as mini – Nobel Prize for developing world scientists.
Deeply connected with the innovation movement in India, Dr. Mashelkar served as the Chairman of India’s National Innovation Foundation (2000-2018). Currently he chairs Reliance Innovation Council, KPIT Technologies Innovation Council, Persistent Systems Innovation Council and Marico Foundation’s Governing Council. He co-chairs the Maharashtra State Innovation Council.
He has been a member of External Research Advisory Board of Microsoft (USA), Advisory Board of VTT (Finland), Corporate Innovation Board of Michelin (France), Advisory Board of National Research Foundation (Singapore), among others.
In August 1997, Business India named Dr. Mashelkar as being among the 50 path-breakers in the post- Independent India. In 1998, Dr. Mashelkar won the JRD Tata Corporate Leadership Award, the only scientist so far to win it. In June, 1999, Business India did a cover story on Dr. Mashelkar as "CEO OF CSIR Inc.", a dream that he himself had articulated, when he took over as DG, CSIR in July 1995. On 16 November 2005, he received the Business Week (USA) award of ‘Stars of Asia’ at the hands of George Bush (Sr.), the former President of USA. He was the first Asian Scientist to receive it.
Dr. Mashelkar has been on the Board of Directors of several reputed companies such as Reliance Industries Ltd., Tata Motors Ltd., Hindustan Unilever Ltd., Thermax Ltd., Piramal Enterprises Ltd., KPIT Technologies Ltd., etc. He chairs the Boards of GeneMedix Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd., Vyome Biosciences Pvt. Ltd. and Invictus Oncology Pvt. Ltd.