Prof. Calyampudi Radhakrishna Rao, well-known as C.R. Rao, is a distinguished Indian mathematician, who made significant contributions towards the development of statistics as an independent discipline. At the very beginning of his impressive research career spanning 80 years, Prof. Rao made breakthroughs by developing the Cramer-Rao inequality and the Rao-Blackwellization technique. His pioneering work spanned various areas like information theory, statistical physics, statistical genetics, econometrics, differential geometry, etc. Within the realm of statistics, Prof. Rao made substantial contributions to nearly every facet of the subject including statistical inference, experimental design, multivariate analysis, higher order asymptotics, characterization of probability distributions, linear and generalized linear models, stochastic modelling, matrix algebra, sample survey and resampling techniques.

Prof. Rao's prolific research career led to over 450 publications, 20 text books, 50 PhD students and 800 descendants. He held numerous prestigious positions including Secretary and Director of Indian Statistical Institute (1972-1976), the President of the International Biometric Society (1974-1975), the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (1977) and the International Statistical Institute (1977-1979), and the Emeritus Holder of the Eberly Family Chair in Statistics at Pennsylvania State University (2009). He was the recipient of several awards including the Padma Bhushan (1968), the Padma Vibhushan (2001), the National Medal of Science (2002) which is the highest award in the United States for scientific research, India Science Award (2010) which is the highest award in a scientific field presented by the Government of India, and the International Prize in Statistics (2023). An exceptional teacher, Prof. Rao motivated his students to think independently. His lasting impact continues to motivate statisticians and mathematicians worldwide, establishing him as a significant figure in the history of statistics.

 Schedule:

09:45 - Welcome address by Prof. Mohua Banerjee,
HOD, Dept. of Maths & Stats, IIT Kanpur

 10:00 - 11:00 - Professor Partha Pratim Majumder, ISI Kolkata.

 Title: A Tribute to Multi-faceted Genius, with special reference to his impact on genetics.

 (Chairperson: Professor Neeraj Mishra, IIT Kanpur)

 Tea Break

 11:30 - 12:30 - Professor Debasis Kundu, IIT Kanpur.

 Title: Professor C. R. Rao's Contributions in Statistical Signal Processing.

 (Chairperson: Professor Amit Mitra, IIT Kanpur)

 14:30 - 15:30 - Professor Nandini Kannan, Plaksha University.

 Title: Statistical Thinking - The Legacy of Professor C. R. Rao.

 (Chairperson: Professor Sharmishtha Mitra, IIT Kanpur)

 Tea Break

 16:00 - 17:00 - Professor Satyadev Nandkumar, IIT Kanpur

 Title: Kolmogorov's visit to ISI and the genesis of Kolmogorov complexity.

 (Chairperson: Professor Subhra Sankar Dhar, IIT Kanpur)