PU VC to attend Patnaik’s birth centenary event

PATNA: It is indeed an honour for 101-year-old Patna University (PU) when its vice-chancellor has been invited to attend the birth centenary celebrations of one of its distinguished alumni Dayanidhi Patnaik.

A renowned scholar of chemistry, Patnaik pursued his higher education in PU and did his masters in chemistry in 1941. He did his PhD under the supervision of Ronald Norrish of Cambridge University and his research is considered to be a pioneer work in the field of fast chemical reactions. Later, on this very path-breaking work of Patnaik, his supervisor Norrish was awarded Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1967.

Ravenshaw University, Bhubaneswar, and Odisha Chemical Society are jointly celebrating Patnaik’s birth centenary on November 2 in recognition of his brilliant work in chemistry. PU vice-chancellor along with several other academics and scientists from different parts of the country and outside have been invited to the function.

Vice-chancellor Rash Bihari Prasad Singh said he would like to attend the function as it is a matter of pride for PU.

PU science faculty dean and chemistry department former head Radha Kant Prasad said several other scholars of chemistry have done the university proud by their research works in the past. While J N Chatterjee and Ramesh Prasad had synthesized a compound which was used by a British medical firm in the manufacture of drug for arthritis, A K Banerjee had worked with Charles John Pederson, who was awarded Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1987. Chatterjee had got patented a perfume in his name following his work on synthesis of compounds, he said.


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