Govind Swarup

Govind Swarup
FRS[1]
Born(1929-03-23)23 March 1929
Thakurdwara, United Provinces, British India
Died7 September 2020(2020-09-07) (aged 91)
Pune
NationalityIndian
Known forRadioastronomy; R&D
Awards
  • 1972 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
  • 1973 Padma Shri
  • 1984 INSA P.C. Mahalanobis Medal
  • 1986 IPS Biren Roy Trust Medal
  • 1987 INSA Vainu Bappu Memorial Award
  • 1987 Tskolovosky Medal
  • 1987 NASI Meghnad Saha Medal
  • 1988 TWAS Prize
  • 1990 IURS John Howard Delinger Gold Medal
  • 1990 R. D. Birla Award
  • 1991 FIE Foundation Award
  • 1993 Gujar Mal Modi Science Award
  • 1993 INSA C. V. Raman Medal
  • 1994 UoC Sir Devaprasad Sarbadhikari Medal
  • 1995 M. P. Birla Award
  • 1999 Khwarizmi International Award
  • 2001 H. K. Firodia Award
  • 2005 RAS Herschel Medal
  • 2006 UoP Lifetime Achievement Award
  • 2007 Grote Reber Medal
  • 2007 ISC President's Medal
  • 2009 Homi Bhabha Award
Scientific career
FieldsRadioastronomy
InstitutionsTIFR
Doctoral advisorRonald N. Bracewell
Doctoral studentsVijay Kumar Kapahi, Gopal Krishna

Govind Swarup (March 23, 1929 – September 7, 2020) was a pioneer in radio astronomy. In addition to research contributions in multiple areas of astronomy and astrophysics, he was a driving force behind the building of "ingenious, innovative and powerful observational facilities for front-line research in radio astronomy".[2]

Swarup was the key scientist behind the concept, design and installation of the Ooty Radio Telescope (Ootacamund, India) and the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) near Pune.[3][4] Swarup was the founding director of the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR).[5] Under his leadership, a strong group in radio astrophysics was built at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research that is comparable to the best in the world.[6]

He published over 125 research papers, edited 4 books, and held at least two patents.[7] He contributed to the fields of solar radio emission, radio galaxies, quasars, pulsars, interplanetary scintillation, dark matter and cosmology.[4][8][9]

  1. ^ "Govind Swarup". The Royal Society. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference INSA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Jauncey, Dave (2007). "2007 Grote Reber Medal to Professor Govind Swarup". CSIRO Newsletter. Australia Telescope National Facility. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  4. ^ a b Gupta, Amitava Sen; Ananthakrishnan, Subra; Gupta, Yashwant (June 2020). "In Memoriam: Govind Swarup" (PDF). The Radio Science Bulletin. 2020 (373): 64–68. Bibcode:2020URSB..373...64G. doi:10.23919/URSIRSB.2020.9318439. S2CID 234690003. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  5. ^ Nityananda, Rajaram (10 September 2020). "Remembering Govind Swarup – Astronomer, Builder, Leader". Science The WIRE. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Raychaudhury was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference IIAP was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ananthakrishnan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Orchiston was invoked but never defined (see the help page).