Ranbir Chander Sobti

Ranbir Chander Sobti
Born (1948-08-19) 19 August 1948
Tarn Taran, Punjab, India
Occupation Cell Biologist
Educationist
Spouse(s) Vipin Khindagi
Parent(s) S. D. Sobti
Sheela Sobti
Awards Padma Shri
INSA – Japan Society Exchange Award
INSA Young Scientist Medal
Kothari Scientific and Research Commission Science Award
Indo-UK Young Scientist Exchange Program Award
Indo-France Exchange Program Award
INSA-Royal Society Exchange Program Award
UGC Career Award
B. C. Guha Memorial Award
Amity Academic Excellence Award
Punjab Sarkar Parman Patra
National Open and Distance Education Board Life Time Achievement Award
Yokohama National University International Exchange Foundation Award
Jai Prakash Memorial Education Award
Chaudhary Devi Lal Manch Educational Award
Prof. P. N. Mehra Memorial Award
ISCA President's Gold Medal
Swami Vivekananda National Award
PMA Excellence in Education Award
PAS Lifetime Achievement Award
Ranbaxy Research Award
Punjab Rattan Award

Ranbir Chander Sobti is an Indian educationist, cell biologist and the vice chancellor of the Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow.[1] He is a former vice chancellor of the Punjab University, Chandigarh, holding the post from 2006 to 2012. He is known to have involved in advanced research in plant genetic studies and has written over 240 articles,[2] and 22 books[3] including Essentials of Biotechnology[4] and Emerging Trends in Biomedical Science and Health.[5] He is an elected Fellow of several major science academies such as Indian National Science Academy,[6] National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, National Academy of Medical Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, India,[7] and Punjab Academy of Sciences.[8] The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2009, for his contributions to Literature and Education.[9]

Biography

Punjab University Student Centre
Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University Courtyard

Ranbir Chander Sobti was born to S. D. Sobti and Sheela Sobti in Taran Taran district of Punjab on 19 August 1948[10] and graduated in Science (BSc) with honours from Punjab University in 1969.[11] He continued his studies at the same institution to secure his master's degree (MSc) in 1970 and a doctoral degree (PhD) in 1974. While doing his doctoral research, he also passed a certificate course in German language in 1971.[11] His career started as a teaching assistant in 1974 at his alma mater where he worked for 28 years. He served the institution in various capacities such as Curator (1975–1976), Lecturer (1976–1985), Reader (1985–1994) and Professor in Cell Biology (1994–2006) when he was appointed as the vice chancellor of the university. In between, he took a hiatus and worked at the University of Miami, Florida as a resident associate professor during two periods, 1976–1980 and 1983–1985. During his stay at Miami, he successfully completed the course of Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH) in 1983.[11]

In 2006, Sobti assumed the responsibility as the vice chancellor of Punjab University and continued in the post till 2012.[12] He also worked as the Dean of the Alumni Relations (1998–1999) and Foreign Students (2001–2004), as the honorary director of the Honorary Director of the UGC Academic Staff College (2004–2006) and as the Chairman, Board of Examiners of the Department of Electronics and Accreditation of Computer Classes (DOAECC).[8] In 2012, he moved to Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU) as its vice chancellor and holds the position to date.[13] When the Indian Science Congress Association conducted their 101st annual session at Jammu, he chaired the session as its general president.[14] He has also served as the director of the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) and as a member of the executive council of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), Bangalore.[8] He headed the panel of NAAC which conducted an appraisal on the Tripura University in 2015.[15] He is a member of Zaheer Science Foundation, a New Delhi based non government organization promoting scientific research and educational reforms, in coordination with government agencies.[16]

Sobti is married to Vipin Khindagi; the marriage took place on 8 October 1975, while he was working as a curator at Punjab University.[12] The couple lives at the VC's Residence, along Rae Baraelli Road, in Lucknow.[7]

Legacy

The Centre of Biotechnology of the Punjab University was established during Sobti's tenure as the Reader of the Department of Zoology at the university and he worked as the founder coordinator of the Centre from 1989 to 1995.[11] His efforts are reported behind the elevation of the Centre into a department in 1995 and he chaired the department till 2005, except for a period from February 2001 to September 2002. While he served as the vice chancellor, the university started 65 industry-oriented courses, established a dedicated post of Dean for the research department, established chairs for contemporary and traditional thought and introduced semester system for all academic courses. It was during this period, the university received over ₹ 800 million in research grants and ₹ 3 billion in government funding.[6] With the funding, he helped establish regional centres and colleges in rural areas and initiated programs to provide preferential admission to AIDS/Thalassemia patients and single girl child families at the affiliated colleges and university campus and provided free education to orphans and differently abled students.[6] The university also took up the responsibility to adopt 8 nearby villages and set up facilities there for computer literacy, community health and language learning. In 2011, a community radio service under the name, Jyotirgmaya 91.2 MHz, was launched for exchange of knowledge and information among the participating communites and to provide a dialogue platform for them.[17] It was under his vice chancellorship at the Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, the institution started its collaboration with Uttar Pradesh Council for Science and Technology (UPCST) and North Eastern Railway (NER), Lucknow Division for innovations in the public sector services.[18] He established the Centre for Industry Institution Partnership Program (CIIPP), a forum for dialogue between industry representatives and academicians, and also contributed in making the University campus, a smoke-free and polythene-free green campus.[19]

Sobti's early researches were linked to cancer biology[20] and some of his writings, which comprise 22 books and 246 articles, were based on his cancer researches.[21] ResearchGate, an online repository of scientific articles, has listed 156 of his articles and they are reported to have been cited over 2000 times,[2] with an h-index of 18.[6] He has handled several projects for University Grants Commission, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Indian Council of Medical Research, Department of Biotechnology and the Ministry of Human Resource Development and has been a member of the Editorial Boards of journals such as Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry,[22] Cytology and Genetics, and the Indian Journal of Human Genetics.[6] He has participated in several seminars and conferences for delivering keynote addresses;[23] his oration, Universities and the innovation cycle, at the centenary conference of the Association of Commonwealth Universities in 2015, was one among them.[20] The 12th Dr. J. C. Bose Memorial Lecture of Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (2006), Sir Shri Ram Memorial Oration (2007), D. D. Jain Oration (2007) and Dr. G. S. Randhawa Oration (2009) are some of the other lectures delivered by him.[8]

Awards and honours

The National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI) elected Sobdi as its Fellow in 1992 and the National Academy of Medical Sciences (NAMS)[24] and the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) followed suit by electing him as their Fellow in 2003 and 2011 respectively.[25] He has also been inducted into the elected Fellows list by the Indian National Science Academy (2012), Punjab Academy of Sciences,[26] Zoological Society, Institution of Chemical Engineers, International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences,[27] Union for International Cancer Control, and the Comprehensive Cancer Centre for State of Florida.[25]

Sobti received the INSA Young Scientist Medal of the Indian National Science Academy and the Science Award of the Kothari Scientific and Research Commission in 1977.[11] A year later, he was awarded the Indo-UK Young Scientist Exchange Program Award, followed by the Indo-France Exchange Program Award in 1986, INSA-Royal Society Exchange Program Award in 1988 and INSA–Japan Society Exchange Program Award in 1994.[11] He received four awards in 2008, Career Award of the University Grants Commission,[11] B. C. Guha Memorial Award, Amity Academic Excellence Award, Punjab Sarkar Parman Patra, and four more awards in 2009, Life Time Achievement Award of the National Open and Distance Education Board, Yokohama National University International Exchange Foundation Award, Jai Prakash Memorial Education Award, and the fourth highest Indian civilian award of the Padma Shri.[8][25] Chaudhary Devi Lal Manch Educational Award and the Prof. P. N. Mehra Memorial Award reached him in 2010 and he received the General President's Gold Medal of the Indian Science Congress Association and Swami Vivekananda National Award in 2011.[25] He was awarded the PMA Excellence in Education Award in 2012 and the Punjab Academy of Sciences honoured him with the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013.[25] He is als a recipient of the Ranbaxy Research Award[24] and Punjab Rattan Award.[8]

Selected bibliography

See also

References

  1. ↑ M. Y. Khan, Farha Khan (2015). Principles of Enzyme Technology. PHI Learning. p. 368. ISBN 9788120350410.
  2. 1 2 Ranbir Sobti on ResearchGate. ResearchGate.
  3. ↑ "Amazon profile". Amazon. 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  4. ↑ R.C. Sobti, Suparna S. Pachouri (2008). Essentials of Biotechnology. CRC Press. p. 750. ISBN 9781420082845.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "INSA Fellow". Indian National Science Academy. 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  6. 1 2 "NASI Fellow". National Academy of Sciences, India. 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Sobti on Zaheer Science Foundation". Zaheer Science Foundation. 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2016. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Sobti on Prabook". Prabook. 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "BBAU profile" (PDF). Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow. 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  11. 1 2 "Dr Sobti takes over as VC". The Tribune. 22 July 2006. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Objectives". Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University. 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  13. ↑ "List of Past General Presidents". Indian Science Congress Association. 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Varsity faces NAAC downgrade threat". The Telegraph. 17 September 2015. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Zaheer Science Foundation". Zaheer Science Foundation. 2016. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Jyotirgamaya CR". Ministry of \information and Broadcasting. 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Punctuality award for NER Lucknow division". Indian Express. 14 April 2013. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Smoke, Tobacco and Polythene Free Green Campus". Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University. 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  19. 1 2 "Plenary Speakers". Association of Commonwealth Universities. 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Sobti on PubFacts". PubFacts. 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  21. ↑ "Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry". Springer. 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  22. ↑ "From Stem Cells to Organ Building". Guest Talk on 'Stem Cell Culture and its Applications" by Prof RC Sobti - YouTube video. Shoolini University. 25 November 2015. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  23. 1 2 "NAMS Fellow" (PDF). National Academy of Medical Sciences. 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 "Sobti, Ranbir Chander on NAAS". National Academy Agriculture Sciences. 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  25. ↑ "Honorary Fellows". Punjab Academy of Sciences. 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  26. ↑ "IACS Fellow". International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences. 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2016.

External links

Further reading

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