Prof. Mahendra Pal Singh

Prof. Singh obtained his PhD (Mathematics) from the University of Maryland in 1960. After brief post-doctoral stints at Cornell University and NASA NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre, he returned to India to join IIT Delhi as a faculty member in Mathematics in 1964. He led the initiative to set up the Centre for Atmospheric Sciences and served as the founding Chairperson for the 1979-1989 period. CAS has now grown into a leading academic unit well-known internationally for its teaching and research programs in atmospheric and oceanic sciences. He also served as a Visiting Professor at Cambridge University (1973). After his retirement from IIT Delhi in 1991, he has been deeply involved in leading the Ansal Institute of Technology Gurgaon and the Ansal Institute of Technology and Management Lucknow.

Professor Singh made pioneering contributions in fluid mechanics, numerical modeling, monsoon dynamics and atmospheric dispersion research. Pure and Applied Geophysics brought out a special edition Weather and Climate: The MP Singh Volumes I and II, in his honour with leading experts from all over the world as contributors. He has published about 100 research papers and co-authored the book: Dynamics of Atmospheric Flow. He supervised 27 PhD students who are leaders in the field of atmospheric sciences. He also served on the Editorial Boards of many journals including Atmospheric Environment and Advances in Fluid Mechanics.

Prof. Singh won numerous accolades in his life including Knight of the Order of Academic Palms, France, by the Prime Minister of the French Republic in 2008, Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences India in 1975, Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Sciences in 1986, and the Distinguished Service Award by IIT Delhi in 2011.

Special Mention: Founding Chairperson of the Centre for Atmospheric Sciences (CAS), IIT Delhi.

Research Interests: Applied mathematics, atmospheric sciences, air pollution and bio fluid dynamics