M. G. K. Menon | |
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| 2ndChairman of ISRO | |
| In office January 1972 (1972-01) – September 1972 (1972-09) | |
| Preceded by | Vikram Sarabhai |
| Succeeded by | Satish Dhawan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Mambillikalathil Govind Kumar Menon (1928-08-28)28 August 1928 |
| Died | 22 November 2016(2016-11-22) (aged 88) |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater |
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| Known for | KGF Experiments (Particle experiments atKolar Gold Fields) |
| Awards | |
M. G. K. Menon | |
|---|---|
| 4th Director General ofDefence Research and Development Organisation | |
| In office 1974 (1974) – 1978 (1978) | |
| Preceded by | Basanti Dulal Nagchaudhuri |
| Succeeded by | Raja Ramanna |
M. G. K. Menon | |
|---|---|
| Academic background | |
| Doctoral advisor | Cecil F. Powell |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Physics |
| Institutions | |
Mambillikalathil Govind Kumar MenonFRS[1] (28 August 1928 – 22 November 2016)[2] also known asM. G. K. Menon, was an Indianphysicist and policy maker who served as theChairperson of ISRO in 1972[3] and also served as the Director general ofDefence Research and Development Organisation from 1974 to 1978.[4] Additionally Menon has also served as the minister of state inMinistry of Earth SciencesGovernment of India.
Born inMangalore, he attended theUniversity of Bristol for his PhD in elementaryparticle physics under the guidance ofNobel LaureateCecil F. Powell. He joined theTIFR in 1955.
He undertook experiments withcosmic rays to explore the properties offundamental particles. He was actively involved in setting up balloon flight experiments, as well as deep underground experiments with cosmic rayneutrinos in the mines at Kolar Gold Fields. He was the Director of theTata Institute of Fundamental Research,Mumbai (1966–1975), President of theIndian Statistical Institute,[5] the Vikram Sarabhai Fellow ofISRO, President of theNational Academy of Sciences, India, Chairman Board of Governors,Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and chairman Board of Governors of theIndian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad.
He won theAbdus Salam Award, and was a member of thePontifical Academy of Sciences. He was one of the most prominent scientists from the state of Kerala and was elected aFellow of the Royal Society in May 1970.[6] Theasteroid7564 Gokumenon was named in his honour in late 2008.[7]†
M.G.K.Menon was born into aMalayaliNair family to Justice Sankara Menon of Kizhakkepat and Narayanikutty Amma of Mamballikalathil.[8] He was educated at Jaswant College,Jodhpur, and theRoyal Institute of Science, Bombay (now called The Institute of Science, Mumbai), before he moved to theUniversity of Bristol for his PhD in elementaryparticle physics under the guidance ofNobel LaureateCecil F. Powell in 1953.[9]
Menon joinedTata Institute of Fundamental Research in 1955 "essentially because ofBhabha", and the association lasted nearly five decades. He became the director of the institute in 1966, at the age of 38, following Bhabha's untimely death. In fact, Menon began handling the affairs of the institute ever since he was 33, because of Bhabha's increasing involvement with the country's nascent atomic energy programme.[9]
Menon was theChairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation in 1972 and head of theDefence Research and Development Organisation from 1974 to 1978.[10][2] He was a member of the Planning Commission (1982–1989), Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister (1986–1989) and vice-president,Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) (1989–1990).
Menon was elected as aMember of Parliament, Rajya Sabha during 1990–96. In 1989, thenPrime Minister of India,Vishwanath Pratap Singh appointed him as theMinister of State for Science, Technology and Education.[11]
While working towards his PhD degree inparticle physics at theUniversity of Bristol under ProfessorCecil F. Powell, Menon met and married Indumati Patel, who was working towards a degree in philosophy.[14] They have two children, Anant K. Menon, Professor ofBiochemistry atWeill Cornell Medicine inNew York City,[15] and Preeti Vaid, a practicing radiologist inNew Delhi. Menon has one grandchild, Kartikeya M. Menon, a medical student at theIcahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.
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| Preceded by | ISRO chairman Jan 1972 – Sept 1972 | Succeeded by |
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