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Dr. Swaminathan Sivaram receives honorary doctorate degree

2010-04-28

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Swaminathan Sivaram
Director, National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, India

Dr. Swaminathan Sivaram, a Purdue graduate and internationally-known chemist, will receive an honorary doctorate degree during May 2010 commencement ceremonies at the West Lafayette campus.

During his campus visit, Dr. Sivaram will present a chemistry lecture, "Controlled Synthesis of Functional Polymers," on Friday, May 14th from 11:00am to noon in Wetherill 201 (WTHR).

Dr. Sivaram is the director of the National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) in Pune, India. He graduated with a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Purdue in 1972. His thesis advisor was Nobel Prize-winning, Professor Herbert C. Brown.

After a brief period of post doctoral research at the University of Akron, Dr. Sivaram returned to India in 1973 to pursue his scientific career. His contributions have many dimensions: industrial research and development, technology development, commercialization of technology, imparting education and research training to a large number of young people in polymer chemistry, institution building, providing policy advice to government in critical areas of science and technology, and advising industry on research and development strategies.

Dr. Sivaram's contributions to science in India have been widely recognized with several awards. He is an elected fellow of all the learned academy of sciences and engineering in India. He is also an elected fellow of the World Academy of Sciences, Trieste, Italy - a body which recognizes excellence of scientists working in the developing world. The President of India acknowledged Sivaram's contributions to society by conferring the Padma Shri. This civilian honor is awarded to less than fifty people every year, drawn from all walks of life, whose work and life have had a significant impact on India.

Dr. Sivaram has made significant and notable contributions to chemical technology and polymer science with wide-spread applications in industry. His research problems are based on a keen perception of the contemporary technological needs; yet, his approach to the solution of the problems has been firmly grounded on the fundamentals of relevant science. His work has resulted in 156 peer reviewed scientific papers in journals of international repute, 28 chapters in books,19 scientific reviews and 91 patent applications of which 44 have resulted in the grant of U.S. patents. Dr.Sivaram holds the record for the largest number of U.S. Patents granted to an Indian scientist for contributions made from India.

His research contributions in the area of polymer science have been widely recognized. Dr. Sivaram is a distinguished international speaker and his work is notable for its high science and technology content. His group at NCL is recognized as the most active center for research in polymer chemistry in India. Dr. Sivaram’s contribution has attracted many international academic research groups to NCL for collaborative research.

As director of the National Chemical Laboratory, Dr. Sivaram has developed several new initiatives to forge public-private partnerships in research and development, and has promoted several transfers of technologies to industry in India. He has initiated several research programs of long term strategic interest to the nation such as clean energy technologies, creating new material technologies from agricultural wastes and biodegradable polymers from agricultural raw materials using the concept of integrated bio refineries.

Source:
Purdue University, National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, India
Press Release: 2010 Honorary Degree list

Related links:
National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, India