List of Banaras Hindu University people

The list of Banaras University people includes notable graduates, professors and administrators affiliated with Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi. For a list of Vice-Chancellors, see List of Vice-Chancellors of Banaras Hindu University.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Nobel laureates

• C. V. Raman, the Nobel Prize winner in Physics in 1930 and Bharat Ratna laureate in 1954 (permanent visiting professor at BHU)^[1]

Heads of state and government

• A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, 11th President of India, 2002-2007;Bharat Ratna laureate in 1997 (visiting professor, taught technology at BHU)^[2]
• Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala (B.A. 1934), former Prime Minister of Nepal
• Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, first Vice President of India, 1952-1962; second President of India, 1962-1967; Bharat Ratna laureate in 1954 (the Vice Chancellor of BHU from 17 September 1939 to 16 January 1948)
• Krishan Kant (M.Sc.), former Vice President of India^[3]

Notable alumni

Arts, humanities and social sciences

• Harivansh Rai Bachchan, poet^[4]
• Bettina Baumer, Austrian scholar and academic
• Manu Bhandari (M.A. 1953), writer
• Radha Burnier (B.A., M.A), theosophist
• Kamalesh Chandra Chakrabarty (M.Sc., Ph.D.), Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India (2009-2014)
• Ram Charan, business consultant
• Shiba Prasad Chatterjee, geographer
• Acharya Sitaram Chaturvedi (B.A., M.A., Ph.D.), playwright, academic
• Ahmad Hasan Dani (M.A. 1944), Pakistani archaeologist and historian
• Sandeep Das (B.A. English Literature), tabla virtuoso
• Osnat Elkabir, Israeli singer, dancer and theatre director
• Koenraad Elst, Belgian scholar
• Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar (B.Sc. 1926, M.Sc. 1928), second Sarsanghchalak (Supreme Chief) of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
• K. N. Govindacharya (M.Sc. 1962), environmentalist, social activist
• Bhupen Hazarika (B.A. 1944, M.A. 1946), singer, poet, filmmaker, Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner^[5]
• Shivamurthy Shivacharya Mahaswamiji (Ph.D.), social activist, educationist
• Vina Mazumdar, feminist, academic, pioneer of women's studies
• Byomakesh Mohanty, painter
• Patrick Moutal (B.Sc. 1976, M.Sc. 1978, M.A. 1979, Ph.D. 1983), French musician and Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres awardee
• Awadh Kishore Narain (M.A. 1947), archaeologist, historian, academic
• Raimon Panikkar, Spanish theologian
• Ram Raj Pant, founder of Nepal Law College; pioneering linguist of Nepali language
• Robert M. Pirsig, American philosopher^[6]
• K. V. K. Raju, entrepreneur, founder of Nagarjuna Group
• Paul William Roberts (studied Sanskrit), writer
• Sameer (M.Com.), lyricist
• Ritwik Sanyal (M.A., Ph.D. 1980), Hindustani classical musician, Dhrupad vocalist
• Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena, poet
• Amarnath Sehgal, Indian sculptor, painter and poet, Padma Bhushan (2008)^[7]
• Ananda Shankar, Hindustani classical musician
• Kamala Shankar (M.Sc., Ph.D.), Hindustani classial musician
• Acharya Janki Ballabh Shastri, Indian Hindi poet, writer and critic, Padma Shri (2010)
• Bellikoth Raghunath Shenoy, classical liberal economist
• Sarita Shrestha (M.D. Ayur, 1993), pioneering Ayurvedic practitioner of Nepal
• Vibhuti Narayan Singh (M.A.), last Maharaja of Benares; social activist; Chancellor of BHU
• Colin Turnbull (M.A.), British-American anthropologist

Politicians

• Mohamed Ayub (M.S. 1985), surgeon, politician
• Ved Prakash Goyal, politician
• Rajesh Kumar Mishra, politician
• Ashok Mitra (M.A.), politician, finance Minister of West Bengal
• Mahendra Nath Pandey (M. A., Ph. D. Hindi), politician, MP, Minister in UP Govt.
• Pandit Yadunandan Sharma (B.A. 1929), Indian independence activist, farmers' rights activist
• Janaki Ballabh Patnaik (M.A.1949), politician, former Chief Minister of Odisha
• Shyama Charan Shukla, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
• Manoj Sinha, politician
• Sarat Chandra Sinha (LLB), politician, Chief Minister of Assam
• Shankar Dayal Singh (B.A.), writer, politician
• Anil Srivastava, politician
• Amod Prasad Upadhyay, Minister for Education and Sports, Nepal
• Veena Pandey, (B.A., M.A., B.Ed, LLB, Ph.D.)Former M.L.C. , National Executive Member, B.J.P. Former Vice President Student Union B.H.U.

Science and technology

• Ashok Agarwal (B.Sc. 1975, M.Sc. 1977, Ph.D. 1983), pioneer in reproductive biology
• Girish Saran Agarwal (M.Sc.), physicist specialising in quantum optics; Regents Professor in the Department of Physics of Oklahoma State University; winner of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (Physics) in 1982; elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 2008^[8]
• Pulickel Ajayan (B.Tech. 1985), pioneer in nanotechnology
• Nikesh Arora (B.Tech. 1989), senior vice president and chief business officer at Google
• Meenakshi Banerjee, scientist
• Achal Das Bohra (B.Sc. 1941), government administrator, engineer
• Kota Harinarayana (B.Tech. 1965), scientist, academic
• Aldas Janaiah (Ph.D. 1995), agricultural scientist
• Arvind Mohan Kayastha (B.Sc. 1979, M.Sc. 1982, Ph.D. 1988), scientist, academic
• Akhlesh Lakhtakia (B.Tech. 1979, D.Sc. 2006), pioneered sculptured thin films
• Devendra Lal, geophysicist; winner of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (Physics) in 1967; elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1979^[8]
• Anand Mohan (B.Sc. 1976, Ph.D. 1983), geologist
• Basanti Dulal Nagchaudhuri (B.Sc. 1936), physicist^[9]
• Nishtala Appala Narasimham (M.Sc. 1945, Ph.D. 1952), physicist
• Jayant Vishnu Narlikar (B.Sc. 1957), theoretical physicist, Padma Vibhushan (1965)
• T. V. Ramakrishnan (B.Sc. 1959, M.Sc. 1961), theoretical physicist; winner of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (Physics) in 1982; elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 2000^[8]
• Ayyagari Sambasiva Rao, founder of ECIL
• C. N. R. Rao (M.Sc. 1953), chemist; scientific advisor to the Prime Minister of India; Bharat Ratna laureate in 2014^[10]
• Prof. Ram Harsh Singh Padmashri awardee 2016, ABMS 1961(BHU), MD(Hons), Ph.D 1969 (BHU), D.Litt. FNA IM, Life-time Distinguished Professor, Faculty of Ayurveda BHU, First Vice Chancellor, Rajasthan Ayurved University, Jodhpur (2003-2006).
• Narla Tata Rao, former chairman of the Andhra Pradesh State Electricity Board^[11]
• Palle Rama Rao (Ph.D.), metallurgist and Padma Vibhushan awardee
• Patcha Ramachandra Rao (M.Sc. 1965, Ph.D. 1968), metallurgist
• Udipi Ramachandra Rao (M.Sc. 1952), space scientist, Chairman of ISRO
• Jagdish Shukla (B.Sc. 1962, M.Sc. 1964, Ph.D. 1971), meteorologist^[12]
• shubhash chand (B.Sc. 1962, M.Sc(tech). 1964), geophysist^[13]
• Lalji Singh, molecular biologist, Vice Chancellor of BHU^[14]
• Nagendra Kumar Singh (B.Sc. 1978, M.Sc. 1980), agricultural scientist; pioneer in mapping plant genomes
• Rajesh Singh (B.Tech & M.Tech 1971), technocrat
• Manick Sorcar (B.Tech.), artist, engineer, entrepreneur
• Satish K. Tripathi (B.Sc., M.Sc.), President of University at Buffalo, The State University of New York^[15]
• Prahalad Chunnilal Vaidya, physicist and mathematician; proponent of Vaidya Metric for gravitational fields; Vice Chancellor of Gujarat University
• Kameshwar C. Wali (M.Sc), research physicist and science writer

Sports

• Divya Singh (B.A.), Captain of India's National Women's Basketball team

Notable faculty

Arts, humanities and social sciences

• Anant Sadashiv Altekar, Manindra Chandra Nandi Chair of Ancient History & Culture; led archaeological excavation of Mauryan era structures
• C. V. Chandrasekhar, Professor of Performing Arts; Bharata Natyam dancer; Sangeet Natak Akademi Award winner; Kalidas Samman and Padma Bhushan awardee
• Acharya Sitaram Chaturvedi, Professor of Literature, playwright
• Amiya Kumar Dasgupta, Professor of Economics (1947–1958); pioneer of economics in Independent India
• Girija Devi, Professor of Performing Arts; Hindustani classical vocalist
• Julius Getman, Visiting Professor of Law
• Chandradhar Sharma Guleri, former Manindra Chandra Nandi Chair in Ancient History and Religion
• Latika Katt, Professor of Visual Arts; sculptor
• Sucheta Kripalani, Professor of Constitutional History^[16][17]
• Lalmani Misra, Professor of Music; Hindustani classical musician
• Awadh Kishore Narain, Professor of History (1947–1960); Manindra Chandra Nandi Chair of Ancient History & Culture (1960–1971)
• B.C. Nirmal, Professor of Law
• N. Rajam, Professor of Performing Arts
• S. R. Ranganathan, Professor of Library Science (1945–1947); inventor of colon classification and five laws of library science
• Ritwik Sanyal, Professor of Performing Arts; Hindustani classical musician
• Ram Chandra Shukla, Professor of Visual Arts; painter
• Acharya Ramchandra Shukla, Professor of Literature
• Gurbachan Singh Talib, Professor of Sikh Studies
• Pandit Omkarnath Thakur, Professor of Performing Arts; Hindustani classical musician

Science and technology

• Sir Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar, Professor of Chemistry (1921–1924); co-inventor of Bhatnagar-Mathur Magnetic Interference Balance; founding chairman of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
• Prafulla Kumar Jena, former Professor of Metallurgical Engineering^[18]
• Madhu Sudan Kanungo, Professor of Biology (1962–2011); pioneer of gerontology; Padma Shri awardee
• Arvind Mohan Kayastha, Professor of Biotechnology
• Veer Bhadra Mishra, former Professor of Civil Engineering; environmentalist; founder of Swatcha Ganga Campaign^[19]
• Ganesh Prasad, Professor of Mathematics (1917–1923); mathematician
• Palle Rama Rao, Professor of Metallurgy (1962–1982); scientist; Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan awardee
• Birbal Sahni, Professor of Botany (1920); authority on plant fossils of Gondwana and Jurassic age

References

1. Prakash, Satya (May 20, 2014). Vision for Science Education. Allied Publishers. p. 45. ISBN 818424908X.
2. Kalam, A. P. J. Abdul (September 5, 2012). Turning Points. HarperCollins Publishers. p. 139. ISBN 9350295431.
3. "Shri Krishan Kant". Rajya Sabha. Retrieved 2012-06-06.
4. "Harivansh Rai Bachchan: The bright star of Hindi poetry - Times Of India". indiatimes.com. 19 January 2003. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
5. "Dr. Bhupen Hazarika". bhupenhazarika.com. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
6. "Robert Pirsig Bio". amsaw.org. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
7. "Renowned sculptor Amarnath Sehgal passes away". Zee News. 28 December 2007. Retrieved 2013-08-20.
8. "Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize: an inspiration for international recognitions" (PDF). Current Science 107 (2): 164. 25 July 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
9. "Dr B D Nagchaudhuri passes away". ITC Sangeet Research Academy. Retrieved 2012-06-06.
10. "Bharat Ratna C N R Rao: I expect great things to happen under Modi". Rediff News. November 9, 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
11. "Narla Tata Rao passes away". The Hindu (Chennai, India). 8 April 2007. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
12. "Interview with Prof. Shukla". wmo.int. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
13. "Interview with Prof. Shukla". wmo.int. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
14. "Vice Chancellor Padmashri Dr. Lalji Singh". Banaras Hindu University. Retrieved 2012-06-06.
15. "About Satish K. Tripathi - UB Office of the President". Buffalo.edu. 2011-04-18. Retrieved 2013-06-17.
16. "Kripalani, Shrimati Sucheta". Lok Sabha. Retrieved 2012-06-06.
17. "Indian Coast Guard History". Indian Coast Guard. Retrieved 2012-06-06.
18. "Institute of Advanced Technology and Environmental Studies profile" (PDF). Institute of Advanced Technology and Environmental Studies. 2015. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
19. "Distinguished Alumnus Awards, "BHU Alumni Meet 9th March 2008"". Banaras Hindu University. Retrieved 2012-06-10.