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Jyeshtharaj Bhalchandra Joshi I have had the pleasure of knowing Jyeshtharaj Bhalchandra Joshi (JB) for over 40 years. I first knew him as an undergraduate (UG) student, then as a post-graduate (PG) student, and finally as my doctoral student. He was associated with me as a faculty member from 1972 onward, first as an Associate Lecturer (Demonstrator), then as a Lecturer and Reader, and finally as a Professor. When the post of Professor was advertised, four of his senior colleagues did not even apply, presumably thinking that his credentials were relatively very high, compared to them. He is a unique person who has combined humility with the desire to help persons even out of turn, and yet possesses the firmness to handle difficult tasks. He is an outstanding teacher, researcher, and consultant; these are characteristics that I have cherished throughout my life, and I have given public lectures on this unique combination for a university person. Our motto was to demonstrate our capabilities as excellent teachers to inspire undergraduate students and yet perform outstanding research as measured by publications in journals that have impact factors in the top three among chemical engineering journal publications. JB has acquitted himself very well on these counts. It is generally not known that he was first launched as a Consultant in Summer Vacation with a mere compensation of ∼$500 US. He has traversed the path of Consultant, rising to higher fees, including overseas work, than those gathered by any chemical engineering faculty member in India, and, today, it is in excess of 1000 times greater than his starting fees. I recall him as a frail, unassuming UG student whom I had also supervised for his design paper. He did not keep good health then and I pressed him to take care of his health, a weak financial background notwithstanding. His clarity of thought is really remarkable and true to the traits of an engineer. He can split a complicated, even somewhat unsolvable, problem into solvable ones. He has shown remarkable success in combining experimental skills with analysis through severe mathematics; this is a trait that he has nurtured with fervor over the course of decades. Today, he commands, within the fraternity of engineers in India, the highest number of citations. He has published a great number of papers with me and my collaborators, three of which have citations close to 200. His papers on backmixing in horizontal and vertical bubble columns were groundbreaking and, indeed, had a direct correlation between predicted and experimental values. The design procedures developed by him for multiphase reactors have been strongly recommended by international journals and used by practicing engineers throughout the world. I have thoroughly enjoyed my association with him, in different ways, for more than four decades. He became Director of what, then, was UDCT. He brought complete autonomous status (administratively, financially, and academically) and converted a University Department (UDCT) to a University Institute of Chemical Technology (UICT). From the year 2000 onward, he ushered several projects in a spectacular way, including one from World Bank. He has gathered funds on an unprecedented scale, unknown in the annals of the education arena, particularly in the fields of chemical engineering and chemical technology; one such
example would be the establishment of a much-needed six-story student hostel, mostly from funds obtained from philanthropists. This is indeed a remarkable achievement, because the hostel accommodation problem has vanished, although intake at the UG, PG, and doctoral level has increased substantially. I cannot forget how I suffered in 1958 when I had no hostel accommodations, although I was the lone fulltime research student from chemical engineering. The infrastructure has been vastly improved, with respect to the auditorium, classrooms, electrical power distribution, IT systems, etc., entirely through private donations. He has already collected funds to construct “Faculty House”, which consists of 40 apartments (totaling 65 000 ft2). He has also garnered funds for the construction of 250 000 ft2 of research laboratories, which will approximately double the existing research and education space. He has also collected funds for seven new Endowment Chairs. During his tenure of Directorship over 10 years, the external revenue generation (ERG) (mainly through research and consultancy projects) has experienced compounded growth of ∼25% per year. Currently, ERG is 10 times greater than the support from the government, which is perhaps the highest in the world, among the statesupported universities. The Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT) is a model institution for combining high-quality UG education with equally high level PG studies, culminating at the doctoral level. The institute has the highest output of quality Ph.Ds per faculty member, compared to any institution in India. ICT managed to secure autonomy from the 152-year-old University of Mumbai. These are extraordinary achievements. I had set a target of over 40 Ph.D graduations each year in 1990, which was realized in 1994, and now it has crossed 60 per year and will approach 100 within the next four years. This is quite a fantastic achievement, for which JB deserves a lot of kudos! The finale has come with the unbelievable, conferment of a Deemed University status, to the envy of many in academic circles. The establishment of new research centers supported by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), the Government of India, and the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, are additional feathers in the cap of JB, which is becoming topheavy. He is leaving behind a rich culture and I wish him great success in his new prestigious assignments with DAE. He has been ably supported by his wife Rujuta, in a most unassuming manner, as JB works tirelessly, sometimes for more than 14 h a day. His son Aniruddha is about to finish his Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay.
M. M. Sharma Emeritus Professor of Eminence, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, India (formerly Director, UniVersity Department (UDCT))
10.1021/ie900566a CCC: $40.75 2009 American Chemical Society Published on Web 04/28/2009
IE900566A
