K. Kasturirangan

Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan
Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan
Born	(1940-10-24) 24 October 1940 (age 76) Ernakulam, Kerala, India
Nationality	Indian
Fields	Space Research
Institutions	National Institute of Advanced Studies; Indian Space Research Organisation
Alma mater	Ramnarain Ruia College, Mumbai Bombay University Physical Research Laboratory, Gujarat University
Notable awards	Padma Vibhushan

Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan (born 24 October 1940 in Ernakulam) is an Indian space scientist who headed the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) from 1994 to 2003. He is the former chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University and the chairman of Karnataka Knowledge Commission. He is a former member of the Rajya Sabha (2003–09) and a former member of the now defunct Planning Commission of India. He was also the Director of the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, from April 2004 to 2009. He is a recipient of the three major civilian awards from the Government of India: the Padma Shri (1982), Padma Bhushan (1992) and Padma Vibhushan (2000).

Kasturirangan graduated in Science with Honours from Ramnarain Ruia College, Matunga situated in central Mumbai, and obtained his Master of Science degree in Physics, from University of Mumbai. He received his Doctorate Degree in Experimental High Energy Astronomy in 1971, working at the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad. He has published more than 244 papers in the areas of astronomy, space science and applications.

Dr. Kasturirangan has steered the Indian Space programme gloriously for over 9 years as Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, of Space Commission and Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Space, before laying down his office on August 27, 2003. He was earlier the Director of ISRO Satellite Centre, overseeing the development of new generation spacecraft, the Indian National Satellite (INSAT-2) and the Indian Remote SensingSatellites (IRS-1A and 1B) as well as scientific satellites. He was also the Project Director for India's first two experimental earth observation satellites, Bhaskara-I and II.