OBITUARY

Professor Rajat Kumar Ray
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

Prof. Rajat Ray passed away on 24th Nov. 2011 after a week-long illness. He was suffering from infection of the lung.

Professor Ray was born on 10th August, 1929. He grew up in a prosperous family settled in Delhi. A brilliant student of St. Stephens College and Delhi University, Rajat Ray received his Ph.D. in Experimental Solid State Physics from Purdue University in the USA. After a tenure as a Research Associate in the National Research Council, Canada, he joined the Department of Physics at IIT Kanpur as a faculty member in 1962. In those eventful formative years of IIT Kanpur, Dr. Ray participated in its growth and was instrumental in setting up the Low temperature Physics Laboratory, of which he was the Head for many years. He spent a couple of years in the MIT on leave of absence from IIT Kanpur. His research was in the area of Low temperature magnetic phenomena. He retired from IIT Kanpur in 1990. He lived in New Delhi after retirement.

An upright man, with impeccable integrity, he never hesitated to speak out against what appeared to him as unjust or improper. He was a superb conversationist who could mix subtle humour very effectively with a somewhat tangential view of events and the world around him He perfected this style into an art. His transparent personality and the air of freshness that always surrounded him remains a pleasant memory in the minds of all those who knew him. His interest in many areas of Science, Literature and History, social and political, made any discussion with him lively and educative.

Those who knew him well will remember him fondly as a brilliant physicist, an inspiring teacher and a very warm human being with a richness of heart that was hard to match.

He leaves behind his wife Amita Ray, his only daughter Ranjana, son-in-law Pratap, an IITK alumnus, his grand daughter Tannishta, members of a large joint family and innumerable friends, who will all miss him.

Pinaki Gupta-Bhaya

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