Nobel laureate pays tributes to teachers

Nobel laureate V Ramakrishnan has expressed his gratitude to professors of the Faculty of Science of the MSU here, who played a pivotal role in laying and strengthening the foundation of his career. He has expressed his gratefulness in an email sent to Professor AC Sharma, current head of the physics department.

With the subject line of 'acknowledging influences', the mail expresses his gratitude to a number of people from physics and mathematics department. "In physics, Dr SK Shah and HS Desai were instrumental in introducing Berkeley physics course and Feyman lectures to undergraduates. These were completely new in the Indian curriculum at that time, and a daring move. Their dedicated teaching inspired me and many other students. Later, Madhuben Shah also taught us. At the time, I, perhaps, did not appreciate it as much as I should have, but the diffraction theory she taught as part of the course is the basis of my work using x-ray crystallography to determine structures."

Venki has also expressed his gratitude to teachers from the mathematics and organic chemistry departments. "In mathematics, I was influenced by many excellent teachers, but particularly inspiring one was Professor Manerikar, who gave us some idea of the beauty of mathematics. Finally, I should add that I also had many excellent chemistry teachers, especially Mr Salvi in organic chemistry."

The mail has led to a sense of thrill and joy among the professors who had contributed to his career.