Gautam R. Desiraju
{{Short description|Indian structural chemist (born 1952)}}
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{{Infobox scientist
| name = Gautam R Desiraju
| image = Gautam Desiraju.jpg
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1952|8|21}}
| birth_place = Madras, Tamil Nadu, India
| death_date =
| death_place =
| field = Chemistry, X-ray Crystallography
| work_institution = Indian Institute of Science, University of Hyderabad
| alma_mater = University of Bombay, University of Illinois
| doctoral_advisor =
| doctoral_students =
| known_for = Crystal Engineering, Hydrogen Bonding
| prizes =
| footnotes =
}}
Gautam Radhakrishna Desiraju (born 21 August 1952) is an Indian structural chemist and an emeritus professor at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). He is known for his work on crystal engineering {{Cite book |last=Desiraju |first=Gautam R. |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Crystal_Engineering/bfY3AQAAIAAJ?hl=en |title=Crystal Engineering: The Design of Organic Solids |date=1989 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-444-87457-3 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Desiraju |first=Gautam R. |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Crystal_Engineering/AMLWuCzDN20C?hl=en |title=Crystal Engineering: A Textbook |last2=Vittal |first2=Jagadese J. |last3=Ramanan |first3=Arunachalam |date=2011 |publisher=World Scientific |isbn=978-981-4338-75-2 |language=en}} and weak hydrogen bonds.{{Citation |last=DESIRAJU |first=GAUTAM R. |title=The weak hydrogen bond in supramolecular chemistry |date=2001-05-31 |work=The Weak Hydrogen Bond |pages=293–342 |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198509707.003.0004 |access-date=2025-04-01 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-850970-7 |last2=STEINER |first2=THOMAS}} He is one of the most highly cited Indian scientists.{{Cite web |title=Citation Report |url=https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/citation-report/78b9f9ad-9607-4384-8670-e9ef761936b7-015722fb14 |url-access=registration |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=Web of Science}}
Biography
Gautam Desiraju was born in Chennai, India. After schooling at Cathedral and John Connon Boys School in Bombay, he obtained a B.Sc. from St. Xavier's College, Bombay in 1972. Under the guidance of David Y. Curtin and Iain C. Paul, he gained a PhD in 1976 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He worked between 1976 and 1978 at the research laboratories of Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester, N.Y., U.S.A. From 1978 to 1979, he was a research fellow at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. In 1979, he joined the University of Hyderabad as a lecturer, was promoted to reader in 1984, and became a professor in 1990. After 30 years at the University of Hyderabad, he joined the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore in 2009.
Desiraju has guided the PhD work of around 40 students and mentored around 100 post-doctoral associates. He has authored more than 475 research papers, has 65000+ citations and a h-index of 103.
He is a member of the editorial advisory boards of Chemical Communications and the Journal of the American Chemical Society. He is the editor-in-chief of Polyhedron. He has chaired the first Gordon Research Conferences in Crystal Engineering in 2010 and was president of the International Union of Crystallography from 2011 to 2014. In August 2017, he organized the 24th Congress and General Assembly of the International Union of Crystallography in Hyderabad, India.{{Cite web|url=https://www.iucr2017.org/|title=IUCR - 2017 | International Union of Crystallography}}
Desiraju has received honorary doctorate degrees from Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina, Rayalaseema University, Kurnool, and Gulbarga University, Kalaburagi. He has won internation awards such as the Alexander von Humboldt Forschungspreis and the TWAS award in Chemistry. He was awarded the Acharya P. C. Ray Medal (2015) by the University of Calcutta for innovation in science and technology, the ISA Medal (2018) for Science by the University of Bologna, and the Van der Waals Prize (2023) by ICNI, Strasbourg.
He has been the chairman of the governing council of the Bose Institute, Kolkata. He is a member of the Vice Chancellor's Strategic Advisory Council of the University of Petroleum & Energy Studies (UPES), Dehradun, and a member of the Academic Council of Rishihood University, Sonepat.
Scholarly contributions
Desiraju's contributions to crystal engineering have focused on the concept of the supramolecular synthon.Desiraju, G. R.: "Supramolecular Synthons in Crystal Engineering. A New Organic Synthesis", Angewandte Chemie International Edition Engl., 1995, 34, 2311.
Desiraju has authored several commentaries on science, the evolution of chemistry as a subject,Desiraju, G. R.: "Chemistry. The Middle Kingdom", Current Science, 2005, 88, 374. its emergence, complexity and practices.Desiraju, G. R.: "Bold strategies for Indian science", Nature, 2012, 484, 159. He has also written articles about the state of science education and research in India{{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20070501133353/http://www.hinduonnet.com/2007/02/19/stories/2007021902651000.htm]}} and the current status of chemistry research in the country,Arunan, E., Brakaspathy, R., Desiraju, G. R., Sivaram, S.: "Chemistry in India: Unlocking the Potential", Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2013, 52, 114. identifying problems and suggesting solutions for issues that stem from, amongst other parameters, the dichotomy between traditional values and the aspiration of an ancient culture to advance scientifically like the west. Despite being educated in America, Desiraju has advocated therefore, inculcating a sense of "Indian-ness" and self-worth in Indian students and young scientists towards a better understanding of India's place in our contemporary world.{{Citation |title=Prof. Gautam Desiraju's advice for young people: How to make India great again | date=14 January 2023 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqXhxDKrxsY |access-date=2023-07-12 |language=en}}{{Citation |title=Prof Desiraju Video Pondy Lit Fest 12 February 2023 on Bharat: India:2.0 | date=14 February 2023 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgcS9wlb3vk |access-date=2023-07-12 |language=en}}
References and notes
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External links
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- [http://desiraju.in Desiraju Homepage]
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Category:University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni
Category:Academic staff of the Indian Institute of Science
Category:Indian crystallographers
Category:21st-century Indian chemists
Category:Presidents of the International Union of Crystallography