Vinod Behari Johri

Vinod Johri was born in Etah, Uttar Pradesh, India, on 10 June 1935. He was a brilliant student who excelled in mathematics and physics. He completed his bachelor's degree in 1953 and master's in applied mathematics in 1956 from Allahabad University scoring high ranks in the merit list. He obtained his PhD in 1962 from Gorakhpur University under the supervision of K. B. Lal. He joined Lucknow University as a lecturer in 1962 and became a professor in 1976. He moved to Indian Institute of Technology, Madras in 1987 as a professor of astrophysics and retired in 1995. He then joined Lucknow University again as a CSIR Professor Emeritus until his death in 2014. Johri was a renowned researcher in the field of astrophysics and cosmology. He had over 75 research publications and articles published in prestigious journals. His major contributions included the first model of power law inflation in Brans–Dicke theory along with C. Mathiazhagan, the theory of integrated tracking of quintessence fields of dark energy and phantom cosmologies. He also worked on gravitational lensing, cosmic microwave background radiation, gravitational waves and quantum cosmology. Johri was honored by Uttar Pradesh Government by Research Award of the Council of Science & Technology for his distinguished work on dark energy in 2006. He was also a Fellow of Royal Astronomical Society of London, a Commonwealth Fellow, a senior visitor at Cambridge University, a DAAD Fellow at University of Mainz, a visiting scientist at Stanford University and an International Scholar at University of Minnesota. Johri was also interested in poetry and literature. He wrote verses in Hindi, Urdu and English during his leisure time. He was a man of great intellect, humility and generosity. He inspired many students and colleagues with his passion for science and learning. He died in Dallas, USA at the age of 78 due to complications arising from kidney failure. He is survived by his brother, sister and nephews. His legacy lives on through his scientific work and his poetic expressions.