Mambillikalathil Govind Kumar Menon

M. G. K. Menon was a renowned Indian physicist and policy maker who had a significant role in the development of science and technology in India for over four decades. He was known for his contributions to the fields of particle physics and cosmic rays, as well as his leadership in various scientific institutions and government bodies. Menon was born on 28 August 1928 in Mangalore, Karnataka, to a Malayali family of judicial officers. He completed his B.Sc. from Jaswant College, Jodhpur, and his M.Sc. from the Royal Institute of Science, Bombay. He then moved to the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom for his Ph.D. in elementary particle physics under the supervision of Nobel laureate Cecil F. Powell in 1953. He returned to India in 1955 and joined the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Mumbai at the invitation of Homi J. Bhabha, the founder of the institute and the father of Indian nuclear programme. He worked on nuclear emulsion techniques and their applications to study the properties of strange particles, such as kaons and hyperons. He also initiated balloon-borne experiments to study cosmic rays near the geomagnetic equator, as well as deep underground experiments with cosmic ray neutrinos in the mines at Kolar Gold Fields (KGF). These experiments led to many important discoveries and insights into the nature of elementary particles and their interactions. Menon became the director of TIFR in 1966 at the age of 38, following Bhabha's tragic death in an air crash. He continued to lead the institute for the next nine years, expanding its research activities and facilities in various disciplines of physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology and computer science. He also played a key role in establishing the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education and the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics. In 1972, Menon became the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), succeeding Vikram Sarabhai who had also died in an air crash. He oversaw the launch of India's first satellite Aryabhata in 1975 and laid the foundation for India's space programme. Menon also held several other important positions in the government and academia, such as the Director General of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Secretary in Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Department of Environment, Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister, Chairman of Scientific Advisory Committee to Cabinet (SACC), Scientific Adviser to Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, Vice-President of Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), President of Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Chairman Board of Governors of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay and Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Allahabad, President of National Academy of Sciences India (NASI), Member of Planning Commission, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) from 1990 to 1996, and Minister of State for Science and Technology and Education in the V. P. Singh government in 1989. Menon was honoured with many awards and recognitions for his scientific and administrative achievements, such as the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (1960), the Padma Shri (1961), the Padma Bhushan (1968), the Padma Vibhushan (1985), the Abdus Salam Medal (1996), and the Fellow of the Royal Society (1970). He was also a member of several international scientific bodies, such as the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the World Academy of Sciences. Menon was married to Indumati Patel, a social worker and activist, since 1955. They had two children, Anant K. Menon, a professor of biochemistry at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, and Preeti Vaid, a radiologist in New Delhi. He also had one grandchild, Kartikeya M. Menon, a medical student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. Menon passed away on 22 November 2016 in New Delhi at the age of 88, after suffering from a rare form of Parkinson's Plus syndrome. He was cremated at Lodhi Road Crematorium with full state honours. He is remembered as one of the most eminent and influential scientists and policy makers of India, who dedicated his life to the cause of science and nation building.