Charusita Chakravarty

Charusita Chakravarty was an Indian academic and scientist who made significant contributions to the fields of chemistry, chemical physics, theoretical and computational chemistry. She was a professor of chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi since 1999. She received many prestigious awards and honors for her research, such as the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in 2009, the B.M. Birla Science Award in 1999, and the Swarnajayanti Fellowship in 2002. She was also an associate member of the Centre for Computational Material Science, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore. Chakravarty was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. on 5 May 1964 as the only daughter of Sukhamoy and Lalita Chakravarty, both renowned economists. She grew up in Delhi, India and chose to give up her American citizenship in her twenties. She was a brilliant student who excelled in both science and arts. She was selected as the National Science Talent Scholar and cleared the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) in 1982. She did her BSc Chemistry program from St. Stephen's College, University of Delhi, graduating with a gold medal in 1985. She then went to Cambridge University, UK to do the Natural Sciences Tripos, receiving the BA (Hons) degree in Natural Sciences in 1987. She joined the PhD program at Cambridge under the guidance of David Clary and worked on the spectra and dynamics of Ar–OH, an open shell system that involved a lot of nuances. She obtained her PhD degree in 1990. After her PhD, she moved to the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA for postdoctoral training with Horia Metiu. She then returned to Cambridge as a Gulbenkian junior research fellow in an independent postdoctoral position. In 1994, she came back to India for good and joined IIT Delhi's Department of Chemistry as an assistant professor. She became a professor in 2006 and continued to teach and research till her death. Chakravarty's research interests spanned across various domains of chemistry and physics, such as atomic and molecular clusters, liquids and liquid mixtures, water and hydration, nucleation and self-assembly, quantum effects and path integral methods. She was widely known for her specialised application of path integral Monte Carlo simulation to unravel quantum mechanical effects in the properties of atomic and molecular clusters. She also explored the thermodynamic, diffusional, and structural anomalies in water and water-like liquids using molecular dynamics simulations and statistical mechanics methods. She published more than 100 papers in international journals and mentored many students and young researchers. Chakravarty was not only a distinguished scientist but also a multifaceted scholar who had a passion for poetry, music, literature, history, philosophy, and social issues. She was fluent in several languages including Hindi, Bengali, French, German, Sanskrit, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. She was an avid reader who had a vast collection of books on various topics. She also wrote poems and essays on science and society. She was vocal about the gender bias and discrimination faced by women in science and encouraged many young girls to pursue careers in STEM fields. Chakravarty was married to Ram Ramaswamy, a professor of physics at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and a fellow scientist. They had a daughter, Krithi Ramaswamy, who is also a scientist. Chakravarty was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012 and underwent several treatments. She fought bravely against the disease and continued to work till the end. She passed away on 29 March 2016 in New Delhi, India at the age of 51. She was cremated at the Lodhi Road crematorium in New Delhi. She is survived by her husband, daughter, mother, and brother. Chakravarty was a remarkable woman who left a lasting legacy in the field of science and beyond. She was an inspiration to many who knew her and admired her. She was a rare combination of intellect, creativity, courage, and compassion. She will be remembered as one of the finest chemists and scholars of India.