Profile

Prof. B. M. Udgaonkar (1927-2014) began his research career at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, under the guidance of Prof. H. J. Bhabha, in 1949. After some publications of interest in Bhabha’s theory of elementary particles, he was drawn into the newly emerging Indian Atomic Energy Programme. He underwent training at the French Atomic Energy Commission, Saclay, France for 18 months (1953-55), and on his return built up the core of the Reactor Theory Group of what is now the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. In 1960, he switched back to High Energy Physics, and spent the next three years in USA, at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, Berkley (1960-62), Institute For Advanced Study, Princeton (1962-63), and Arogonne National Laboratory (1963). On his return he took charge of the Theoretical Physics Group at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bombay, which soon acquired international reputation.

Prof. Udgaonkar was known for his pioneering contribution in the Regge Pole Phenomenology of high energy cross sections and also for his work in the bootstrap approach to hadron dynamics. He was a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences and of the Indian National Science Academy. He was a member of the Commission on Particles and Fields of IUPAP (1969-75).

In the mid-sixties, Prof. Udgaonkar got interested in the problems of education and he was responsible for the growth of the educational dimension of TIFR- the graduate courses and the Visiting Students Research Programme (VSRP) in the School of Physics of TIFR, and various interactions with the school system and the University of Bombay. Out of these emerged the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE) at TIFR, and the Western Regional Instrumentation Centre at the University of Bombay. Also, he was called upon to became a member of the University Grants Commission of India (1973-79). He was Chairman of HBCSE (1975-91) and nurtured it as a Centre of Excellence in school science education and research.

He was Chair of the Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences of the Department of Atomic Energy (1979-86), and Chair of the Atomic Energy Education Society (1988-90). He was a Member of the University Grants Commission (1973-79), Member of the Indian Council of Social Science Research (1980-86), and Special Advisor to Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission (1977-79). He was the first President of the Indian Physics Association (1971-73), President of Maharashtra Academy of Sciences (1979-82), President of the Indian Academy of Social Sciences (1988-89) and President, Marathi Vidnyan Parishad (1982-91). He was Chairman of the National Organizing Committee of the Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha (1987).

Prof. Udgaonkar was active in Pugwash, the well known international organization of scientists working for peace in the nuclear era, which received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1995. He was a member of the Pugwash Council and Executive (1987 – 97). He received the Hari Om Trust Award of the UGC, for work at the interface between science and society (1985) and the President’s Award, PADMA BHUSHAN (1985).

Prof. Udgaonkar has written extensively on his experiences and ideas relating to Education, Science-Technology and Development, and global nuclear disarmament. A selection of his articles has been published by HBCSE (1996).