EDITORIAL pubs.acs.org/IECR
Professor M. S. Ananth: Leading Researcher, Gifted Teacher, and Visionary Leader of Higher Education in India This special issue celebrates the many accomplishments of Professor Ananth of Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, who turned 65 recently. Dr. Ananth received his undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering (Gold Medalist) from the AC College of Technology in India, and he received M.S. and Ph.D degrees from the University of Florida, Gainesville, USA. He joined the faculty in the Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Madras, India, in 1972. His acumen for administration and leadership could be clearly seen during his tenure as Chairman of the Department, and as the Dean Academic Courses and Dean Academic Research. He is primarily responsible for a balanced curriculum and initiatives toward industry-friendly research. He was appointed by the Ministry of Human Resources & Development, Government of India, as Director of IIT Madras in 2001. He is the only director to have served two terms. As Director, Dr. Ananth set up the National Centre for Nuclear and Magnetic Resonance at IIT Madras, an Indo-German Center for Sustainable Development, and was the driving force behind India’s first university-based research park at IIT Madras. The objective of IITM Research Park is to promote innovation and enterprise, increase industry institute interactions, and incubate startups. IITM Research Park’s collaborative environment is a fertile ground for cutting-edge use of inspired research. He is the chief architect of IIT Madras’ “Strategic Plan 2010”, which has shaped its evolution over the past decade, and he has initiated work on “Strategic Plan 2020”. Dr. Ananth has also led the National Program on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) to place high-quality technical r 2011 American Chemical Society
education in the hands of millions of aspiring college students. NPTEL, which is a mega project funded by the Ministry of Human Resources & Development of the Government of India, involves over 300 faculty members of premier institutes in India. Phase I has created more than 240 video and web courses for free use by all the engineering colleges in the country. Phase II of this project, which is now in progress, will create 1000 additional courses. Dr. Ananth has spearheaded many new educational initiatives at IITM: programs of study in Engineering Design, Clinical Engineering, Automotive Engineering, Catalysis Technology, Nuclear Engineering, Petroleum Engineering, and Leadership in Manufacturing. He has been the driving force behind recent internationalization of the IIT campus, opening the doors to foreign graduate students and faculty. He has represented India at the Global University Leaders Forum in the World Economic Forum since 2007. Dr. Ananth is a gifted teacher. At IITM, he has taught several courses on Transport Phenomena and Thermodynamics. His sophomore-level Thermodynamics class has remained a very popular course for decades; students (including the authors of this Preface) respect him for his knowledge and are motivated by his infectious enthusiasm for the subject and his affable Special Issue: Ananth Issue Received: August 22, 2011 Accepted: August 25, 2011 Published: November 30, 2011 12845
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Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research personality. Dr. Ananth firmly believed that more learning takes place in the corridors than in the classroom—and so he made time available for discussions with students outside of the class. As Director, he was the prime mover in the reduction of credits a student had to earn to obtain a Bachelor’s degree, to ensure that the student had enough time to assimilate the knowledge imparted to the students. He was also instrumental in the reduction in the number of core courses in favor of increased free electives. In particular, his emphasis on humanities and sciences has led to a remarkable transformation of the educational landscape, enriching the academic experience in many ways. Dr. Ananth is a renowned researcher. His research interests lie primarily in molecular thermodynamics and mathematical modeling. In his doctoral work, he developed a perturbation theory for calculating the effect of orientation-dependent intermolecular forces on the thermodynamic properties of molecular fluids. He then developed a Self-Consistent Local Composition (SCLC) model for thermodynamic properties of nonelectrolyte solutions and correlation of VLE data. The SCLC model was then combined with the Pitzer Debye Huckel model to develop a model for the thermodynamic properties of electrolyte solutions. During a prolific career, he has supervised 19 Ph.D. students and many M.S., M.Tech., and B.Tech. projects. Dr. Ananth was a Visiting Professor at Princeton University (1982 1983) and the University of Colorado (1990 1991). He was a Visiting Scientist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Boulder, CO, USA (1990 1991); a Visiting Scientist at RWTH, Aachen, Germany (summer 1983 and summer 1999); and a Visiting Thermodynamics Expert at Aspen Tech, Burlington, MA, USA (summer 1991). Dr. Ananth’s recent awards include the Champion of Humanity Award (Hindustan Chamber of Commerce, 2009), the Outstanding Achievement Award for Sterling R&D Leadership (Chemtech-CEW, 2009), Distinguished Citizen of the Year (Hamsadwani, Chennai, 2008), and the RW Fahien Award for Professional Excellence (University of Florida, 2003). Prof. Ananth is a Fellow of the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers and the Indian National Academy of Engineering. He is currently a Member of the Scientific Advisory Committee to Cabinet (SAC-C) and a Member of the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC); Chairman, Research Council, Central Electrochemical Research Institute (CECRI), Karaikudi; and Chairman, Academic Committee for Engineering Education, Govt. of Kerala. The regard in which he is held by the Chemical Engineering community may be gauged by the enthusiastic international response to the research symposium, “Recent and Emerging Advances in Chemical Engineering—REACH”, which was held in his honor on the IITM campus in December 2010. Prof. Ananth lost his wife, Jayshree, to cancer in August 2009. For thirty-five years, Jayshree was a constant source of inspiration for him. She held a Master’s Degree in literature and was an editor, creative writer, linguist, and a wonderful homemaker. His son, Sudarshan, holds a Ph.D. in particle physics from the University of Florida, Gainesville, and is currently an Assistant Professor in the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research in Pune, India. His daughter, Nandini, holds a Ph.D. in theoretical chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, USA, and is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher in California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, CA, USA. He stepped down as IITM Director on July 31, 2011, and he can look back on an unprecedented record of success. On August
EDITORIAL
1, 2011, Dr. Ananth joined the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, as a Visiting Professor, where he looks forward to concluding some “unfinished work” regarding his research. It gives us, his former students, great pleasure to honor Professor Ananth for his contributions in research and in teaching, and, even more importantly, for his tireless efforts to improve opportunities and mechanisms for higher education and research in India. S. Pushpavanam*, R. Nagarajan, and Abhijit Deshpande Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Chennai 600 036, India (E-mail:
[email protected])
Sankaran Sundaresan Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, United States
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