Subramania Ranganathan

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Subramania Ranganathan

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1934|2|2}}

| birth_place = Tamil Nadu, India

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2016|1|8|1934|2|2}}

| death_place =

| residence =

| nationality = Indian

| fields = {{ublist | Organic chemistry | Bioorganic chemistry }}

| workplaces = {{ublist | Central Leather Research Institute | IIT Kanpur | National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology | Indian Institute of Chemical Technology }}

| alma_mater = {{ublist | University of Madras | Ohio State University | Harvard University | Woodward Research Institute }}

| doctoral_advisor = {{ublist| Harold Shechter | Robert Burns Woodward }}

| doctoral_students =

| known_for = Studies on synthetic and mechanistic organic chemistry

| awards = {{ublist | 1975 Basudev Banerjee Medal | 1977 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize | 2000 R. C. Mehrotra Endowment Gold Medal | 2001 CRSI Silver Medal | 2006 CRSI Life-time Achievement Award | 2014 INSA Best Teacher Award}}

| spouse = Darshan Ranganathan

| children =

}}

Subramania Ranganathan (1934–2016), popularly known as Ranga,{{Cite journal |last=N. Sathyamurthy |title=S. Ranganathan: an organic chemist and an artist by nature |url=http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/107/11/1892.pdf |journal=Current Science |publication-date=December 2014 |volume=107 |issue=11}} was an Indian bioorganic chemist and professor and head of the department of chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.{{cite book|author=A.J. Elias|title=A Collection of Interesting General Chemistry Experiments|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h_LQDnKBPnAC&pg=PR9|date=1 October 2002|publisher=Universities Press|isbn=978-81-7371-421-4|pages=9–}} He was known for his studies on synthetic and mechanistic organic chemistry{{Cite web |url=http://ssbprize.gov.in/content/Detail.aspx?AID=1 |title=Brief Profile of the Awardee |date=2016 |publisher=Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize |access-date=12 November 2016}} and was an elected fellow Indian National Science Academy,{{Cite web |url=http://insaindia.res.in/detail/N81-0624 |title=Deceased fellow |date=2016 |publisher=Indian National Science Academy}} National Academy of Sciences, India{{Cite web |url=http://nasi.org.in/fellows.asp?RsFilter=R |title=NASI fellows |date=2016 |publisher=National Academy of Sciences India}} and the Indian Academy of Sciences{{Cite web |url=http://www.ias.ac.in/describe/fellow/Ranganathan,_Prof._Subramania |title=Fellow profile |date=2016 |publisher=Indian Academy of Sciences |access-date=12 November 2016}} The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1977, for his contributions to chemical sciences.{{cite web | url=http://ssbprize.gov.in/Content/AwardeeList.aspx | title=View Bhatnagar Awardees | publisher=Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize | date=2016 | accessdate=12 November 2016}}

Biography

File:A building at IIT Kanpur.jpg

Ranganathan, born on 2 February 1934 in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, graduated in chemistry from Madras University and continued there to complete his master's degree in 1957.{{Cite web |url=http://iitk.ac.in/new/prof-s-ranganathan |title=Obituary |date=2016 |publisher=IIT Kanpur}} Before moving to US to pursue his doctoral studies on a Sloan Kettering Foundation fellowship, he worked at the biochemistry department of the Central Leather Research Institute for a short while. In the US, he enrolled at Ohio State University at Harold Shechter's laboratory and secured a PhD in 1962. He moved to the laboratory of Robert Burns Woodward, the 1965 Nobel laureate, at Harvard University for his post- doctoral studies and in 1964, he shifted to Woodward Research Institute, Basel to complete the studies in 1964. On his return to India in 1966, he joined IIT Kanpur where he spent his entire official academic career, holding positions of a professor, head of the department and dean, before superannuating in 1994. Post-retirement, he served as an INSA senior scientist, first at National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology and later at the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), both the facilities were earlier known as Regional Research Laboratories.

Ranganathan was holding the position of an honorary position at IICT when he died on 8 January 2016, at the age of 81, survived by his son, Anand. He was married to Darshan Ranganathan, an academic, research associate and his co-author; his wife predeceased him. Anand Ranganathan is a scientist working on drugs for TB and Malaria at International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology.{{Cite web |url=http://catalyst.nationalinterest.in/tag/anand-ranganathan/ |title=In The Hindu: Medicines in India, For India |date=14 February 2015 |publisher=Transititon State}}

Legacy

During his post-doctoral days, Ranganathan worked closely with Woodward and was known to have assisted the latter in his work on Woodward–Hoffmann rules. It was during this time, he accomplished the total synthesis of Cephalosporin C and Woodward's Nobel lecture was based on this synthesis. Later, basing his researches on synthetic and mechanistic organic chemistry, he identified new methodologies for the synthesis of prostaglandins, a group of biologically active compounds.{{Cite web |url=http://www.csirhrdg.res.in/ssb.pdf |title=Handbook of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Winners |date=2016 |publisher=Council of Scientific and Industrial Research}} His researches have been documented by way of a number of books and over 200 peer-reviewed articles; the online repository of Indian Academy of Sciences has listed 97 of them;{{Cite web |url=http://repository.ias.ac.in/view/fellows/Ranganathan=3ASubramania=3A=3A.html |title=Browse by Fellow |date=2016 |publisher=Indian Academy of Sciences}} and many authors have cited his researches in their publications.{{cite book|author=William J. Houlihan|title=The Chemistry of Heterocyclic Compounds, Indoles|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mjb-JHxkmS0C&pg=PA534|date=15 September 2009|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-18841-5|pages=534–}}{{cite book|author=Francis A. Carey|title=Advanced Organic Chemistry: Part B: Reactions and Synthesis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lsXSBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA316|date=29 December 2013|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-4757-1821-8|pages=316–}}{{cite book|author=F. Serratosa|title=Organic Chemistry in Action: The Design of Organic Synthesis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wkwXBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA282|date=22 October 2013|publisher=Elsevier|isbn=978-1-4832-9092-8|pages=282–}}

Awards and honors

Ranganathan received the Basudev Banerjee Medal in 1975 and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1977.{{cite web | url=http://www.csir.res.in/External/Heads/career/award/BPRIZE/CHEMICAL_SCIENCES.htm | title=Chemical Sciences | publisher=Council of Scientific and Industrial Research | date=2016 | access-date=7 November 2016 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120912012851/http://www.csir.res.in/external/heads/career/award/BPRIZE/CHEMICAL_SCIENCES.htm | archive-date=12 September 2012 }} He received R. C. Mehrotra Endowment Gold Medal in 2000 and the Silver Medal of the Chemical Research Society of India in 2001;{{Cite web |url=http://www.crsi.org.in/index.php/crsi-awards/year-1999-2008 |title=Awards: Year - 2001 |date=2016 |publisher=Chemical Research Society of India}} CRSI would honor him again in 2006 with the Lifetime Achievement Award.{{Cite web |url=http://www.crsi.org.in/index.php/crsi-awards |title=Lifetime achievement awards (CRSI Gold Medal) |date=2016 |publisher=Chemical Research Society of India}} In 2014, he was awarded the Best Teacher Award by the Indian National Science Academy. He held lectureships of the University Grants Commission of India (1979–80), Science and Engineering Research Board (1991) and Department of Atomic Energy (2001) and delivered several award orations including Professor K. Venkatraman Lecture (1979), Professor A. B. Kulkarni Lecture (1982); Professor N. V. Subba Rao Memorial Lecture (1985), Professor T. R. Seshadri Memorial Lecturer (1993) and Maitreyi Memorial Lecture (1994). The Indian Academy of Sciences elected him as a fellow in 1975 and he became an elected fellow of and the Indian National Science Academy and the National Academy of Sciences, India in 1981 and 1991 respectively.

Books

{{cite book|author=Subramania Ranganathan|title=Fascinating Problems in Organic Reaction Mechanisms|url=https://archive.org/details/fascinatingprobl0000rang|url-access=registration|year=1967|publisher=Holden-Day}}
{{cite book|author=Subramania Ranganathan|title=Propagation of density fluctuations in dense monatomic fluids|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h0lZAAAAYAAJ|year=1967|publisher=Cornell University, June}}
{{cite book|author1=Darshan Ranganathan|author2=Subramania Ranganathan|title=The Appreciation of Molecular Transformations in Organic Chemistry: An Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U6Q6AAAAMAAJ|year=1975|publisher=Macmillan Company of India|isbn=9780333901281 }}
{{cite book|author=Subramania Ranganathan|title=Patterns for Supramolecular Design|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JGqEYoKo9NMC|date=1 January 2002|publisher=New Age International|isbn=978-81-224-1405-9}}
{{cite book|author=Subramania Ranganathan|title=Art in Biosynthesis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JhBwRQAACAAJ|publisher=Acad. Press}}
{{cite book|author1=Darshan Ranganathan|author2=Subramania Ranganathan|title=Challenging problems in organic reaction mechanisms|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NtPvAAAAMAAJ|year=1972|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=9780125800501 }}