Dr. Thanu Padmanabhan

Dr. Thanu Padmanabhan (1957-2021) was a Distinguished Professor at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) at Pune, India. A globally-renowned theoretical physicist, Dr. Padmanabhan completed his undergraduate and postgraduate at the University of Kerala. He joined the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in 1979 to pursue a doctoral degree and went to the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, UK with a postdoctoral fellowship. Some of the positions he occupied were as Chairman of the Astrophysics Commission of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP), President of the Cosmology Commission of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), Sackler Distinguished Astronomer of the Institute of Astronomy,Cambridge. Dr. Padmanabhan was awarded the Padma Shri in 2007, the Infosys Prize for Physical Sciences in 2009 and Kerala Sasthra Puraskaram in 2021