C. N. R. Rao

In 1960 he married Indumati and the couple is blessed with a son, Sanjay, and a daughter, Suchitra.

His son involves himself in popularising science in the schools of Bangalore. His son-in-law K.M. Ganesh is the Director of the ‘Indian Institute of Science Education and Research’ (IISER) located at Pune, Maharashtra.

He was born on June 30, 1934, in Bangalore, Karnataka, to Hanumantha Nagesa Rao and Nagamma Nagesa Rao as their only child.

He completed his elementary education at home where his mother, who had skill in Hindu Literature and arithmetic, taught him the subjects and his father made him well versed in English.

In 1940, when he was six-year-old, he first got enrolled in a middle school. He used to guide his classmates in English and mathematics even being the youngest student of the class.

In 1944 he secured first class in lower secondary or class VII exam when he was just ten.

He then joined a high school in Basavanagudi in south Bangalore called ‘Acharya Patashala’, where he developed an enduring interest in chemistry. Although he used to converse in English at home, his father wanted him to know and understand his mother tongue so he was enrolled at a Kannada course.

In 1959 he returned to Bangalore and joined the IISc as a lecturer drawing a salary of Rs. 500 per month. He also commenced his independent research work during this time.

His initial research was primarily on spectroscopy and molecular structure and in 1960 he published his first book from London, ‘Ultraviolet and Visible Spectroscopy’ followed by his second book ‘Infrared Spectroscopy’ published from the US in 1963.

In 1963 he joined ‘Indian Institute of Technology’ (IIT) Kanpur in a permanent position in its Department of Chemistry and served the position till 1976. Meanwhile in 1964 the ‘Indian Academy of Sciences’ elected him as a fellow.

At the outset he faced several challenges to initiate his research work in India due to financial constraints. Gradually he set up facilities for investigating solid state and materials chemistry in IIT Kanpur.

Rao re-joined the IISc in 1976 and set up a unit there dedicated to solid state and structural chemistry.

He was bestowed the highest civilian honour, the ‘Bharat Ratna’ on February 4, 2014.

He has also received ‘Padma Shri’ (1974), ‘Padma Vibhushan’ (1985) and ‘Karnataka Ratna’ (2001) among other honours.