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{{Short description|Indian scientist}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Mihir Chowdhury
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1937|7|15}}
| birth_place = Dacca, [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British Raj]]
| death_date ={{Death date and age|2017|3|28|1937|7|15|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]]
| residence =
| fields = {{ublist | [[Physical chemistry]] }}
| workplaces = {{ublist | [[Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science]] | [[Presidency University, Kolkata]] }}
| alma_mater = {{ublist | [[Rajabazar Science College]]<br />([[University of Calcutta]]) | [[Pennsylvania State University]] | [[University of Chicago]] }}
| doctoral_advisor = {{ublist | [[Sadhan Basu]] }}
| doctoral_students =
| known_for = Studies on Optical, magneto-optical and quantum-mechanical studies on electronic structure of molecules
| awards = {{ublist | 1977 [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize]] | 2000 [[Chemical Research Society of India|CRSI]] Silver Medal | 2000 ISRAPS Lifetime Achievement Award | 2005 [[Calcutta University]] Eminent Teacher Award | 2006 [[Indian Chemical Society|ICS]] Lifetime Achievement Award | 2007 [[Chemical Research Society of India|CRSI]] Gold Medal}}
}}

'''Mihir Chowdhury''' [[Indian National Science Academy|FNA]], [[Indian Academy of Sciences|FASc]] (15 July 1937 – 28 March 2017) was an Indian [[physical chemist]] and Professor and Head of Department of Chemistry at [[Presidency College, Kolkata]] and at the Department of Physical Chemistry of the [[Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science]] (IACS).<ref name="CurSci">{{Cite journal |last=Bhattacharyya |first=Kankan |author-link=Kankan Bhattacharyya |date=25 April 2017 |title=Mihir Chowdhury (1937 – 2017) |url=http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/112/08/1765.pdf |journal=[[Current Science]] |volume=112 |issue=8 |pages=1765–1766}}</ref><ref name="Indian fellow">{{Cite web |url=http://insaindia.res.in/detail.php?id=N80-0171 |title=Indian fellow |date=2016 |publisher=Indian National Science Academy |access-date=12 October 2016}}</ref> He is known for his studies on the electronic structure of molecules using optical, magneto-optical and quantum-mechanical methods.<ref name="Brief Profile of the Awardee">{{Cite web |url=http://ssbprize.gov.in/content/Detail.aspx?AID=438 |title=Brief Profile of the Awardee |date=2016 |publisher=Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize |access-date=12 November 2016}}</ref> He was an elected fellow of the [[Indian National Science Academy]] and the [[Indian Academy of Sciences]].<ref name="Fellow profile">{{Cite web |url=http://www.ias.ac.in/describe/fellow/Chowdhury,_Prof._Mihir |title=Fellow profile |date=2016 |publisher=Indian Academy of Sciences |access-date=12 November 2016}}</ref> The [[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]], the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology]], one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1977, for his contributions to chemical sciences.<ref name="View Bhatnagar Awardees">{{cite web | url=http://ssbprize.gov.in/Content/AwardeeList.aspx | title=View Bhatnagar Awardees | publisher=Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize | date=2016 | access-date=12 November 2016}}</ref>
Three of his research students were also Shanti Swarup Bhatnager awardees.

== Biography ==
[[File:Presidency University - Kolkata 7368.JPG|thumb|235px|Presidency University, Kolkata]]
Chowdhury was born in [[Dhaka]] of [[British India]] (presently in Bangladesh) to Prof. Jogendra Kumar Chowdhury, a chemistry professor at Dacca University and Indira Chowdhury (nee' Guhathakurta), graduated in chemistry from [[Calcutta University]] in 1955 and completed his master's degree in 1957 from the [[Rajabazar Science College]], [[Calcutta University]].<ref name="Indian fellow" /> Enrolling for his doctoral research under the guidance of the renowned chemist and [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize|Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar]] laureate, [[Sadhan Basu]], he secured a PhD and moved to the US for his post-doctoral research which lasted three years, working at the [[Pennsylvania State University]] during 1961–62 and at the [[University of Chicago]] from 1962 to 1964. On his return to India the same year, he started his career as a pool officer at [[Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science]] (IACS) and stayed there till 1966 when he joined Presidency College, Kolkata (the present-day [[Presidency University, Kolkata|Presidency University]]) as a faculty of the department of chemistry.<ref name="About The Department">{{Cite web |url=http://www.presiuniv.ac.in/web/chemistry.php |title=About The Department |date=2016 |publisher=Presidency College}}</ref> He served the college for over a decade as a professor of chemistry.<ref name="Indian fellow" />

It was during this time, he was caught between a student unrest in the college and had to suffer manhandling by a section of the agitating students.<ref name="Former Presidency students liken recent campus violence to the turbulent 70s">{{Cite web |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Former-Presidency-students-liken-recent-campus-violence-to-the-turbulent-70s/articleshow/19736472.cms |title=Former Presidency students liken recent campus violence to the turbulent 70s |date=26 April 2013 |publisher=Times of India}}</ref> The incident resulted in his absence from the college for almost a year and subsequent resignation from the college.<ref name="Years of research reduced to ashes">{{Cite web |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1101030/jsp/calcutta/story_13115640.jsp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101104004805/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1101030/jsp/calcutta/story_13115640.jsp |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 November 2010 |title=Years of research reduced to ashes |date=30 October 2010 |publisher=The Telegraph}}</ref> He was the head of the department of chemistry at Presidency College when he left the institution to return to Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science as a professor in 1966 and when he superannuated in 1998, he had served IACS as the head of the department of physical chemistry since 1976. Post retirement, he served as a senior scientist of the Indian National Science Academy, a position he held till 2006. He also continued his association with the post graduate teaching programs of Calcutta University and Presidency College on honorary basis.<ref name="Indian fellow" />

Chowdhury's wife Sunanda Chowdhury taught at Muralidhar Girls' College. Their Son, Arindam is a professor at IIT, Bombay and daughter, Avantika is an economist. His elder sister Prof. Amita Datta is a noted economist who taught at Delhi University, Lady Brabourne and Presidency Colleges, Kolkata. His elder brother Dr. Subir Chowdhury was a director at IIM, Kolkata. The family lives in Kolkata.

== Legacy ==
Using optical, magneto-optical and quantum-mechanical methodologies, Chowdhury studied the electronic structure of molecules and widened the understanding of CT, [[exciton]] and parity forbidden transitions of metal complexes, [[diazine]]s, bimolecules and rare earth complexes.<ref name="Handbook of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Winners">{{cite web | url=http://www.csirhrdg.res.in/ssb.pdf | title=Handbook of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Winners | publisher=Council of Scientific and Industrial Research | date=1999 | access-date=5 October 2016 | pages=34 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304043957/http://www.csirhrdg.res.in/ssb.pdf | archive-date=4 March 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref> He developed facilities to carry out his spectroscopic and fast kinetic experiments and studied various fields of spectroscopy such as laser, time-resolved and non-linear optics, and elucidated ''role of spin and magnetic field in the radical pair recombination process, circular dichroism of crystal field split components in cooled single crystals, and laser-induced fluorescence of jet-cooled large organic molecules and their hydrated clusters''. His work on the [[Robert S. Mulliken]]'s conjecture is reported to have assisted him to ratify for the first time that the CT band is polarised along the intermolecular axis.<ref name="Indian fellow" />

Chowdhury documented his researches by way of over 155 articles published in peer-reviewed journals.{{Refn|group=note|Please see ''Selected bibliography'' section}} He was associated with a number of science journals as a member of their editorial boards and guided 30 doctoral scholars in their studies.<ref name="Curriculum Vitae">{{Cite web |url=http://www.chemistry.iitkgp.ac.in/~mintu/academic/resume.php |title=Curriculum Vitae |date=2016 |publisher=IIT Kanpur |access-date=17 November 2016 |archive-date=10 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180310024427/http://www.chemistry.iitkgp.ac.in/~mintu/academic/resume.php |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Alumni Details">{{Cite web |url=http://iacs.res.in/alumni_physical_chemistry.html |title=Alumni details |date=2016 |publisher=IACS}}</ref><ref name="Programme">{{Cite web |url=http://www.niist.res.in/english/wp-content/files/Programme.pdf |title=Programme |date=2016 |publisher=NISCAIR}}</ref> His involvement in the efforts to popularise science included a series of lectures on topics such as ''LASER- the wonderful toy'', ''Hundred years of electron discovery'', and ''Symmetry in Chemistry and Physics''<ref name="Indian fellow" /> and his contributions have earned him mention from other authors.<ref name="Bartlett1997">{{cite book|author=Rodney J. Bartlett|title=Recent Advances in Coupled-cluster Methods|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=81RLqhJ09C4C&pg=PA177|year=1997|publisher=World Scientific|isbn=978-981-02-3112-5|pages=177–}}</ref>

== Awards and honours ==
The [[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]] awarded Chowdhury the [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize]], one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1977.<ref name="Chemical Sciences">{{cite web|url=http://www.csir.res.in/External/Heads/career/award/BPRIZE/CHEMICAL_SCIENCES.htm |title=Chemical Sciences |publisher=Council of Scientific and Industrial Research |date=2016 |access-date=7 November 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120912012851/http://www.csir.res.in/external/heads/career/award/BPRIZE/CHEMICAL_SCIENCES.htm |archive-date=12 September 2012 }}</ref> He received the Silver Medal of the [[Chemical Research Society of India]]<ref name="Awards: Year - 2000">{{Cite web |url=http://www.crsi.org.in/index.php/crsi-awards/year-1999-2008 |title=Awards: Year – 2000 |date=2016 |publisher=Chemical Research Society of India |access-date=17 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161016123938/http://www.crsi.org.in/index.php/crsi-awards/year-1999-2008 |archive-date=16 October 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> as well as the Lifetime Achievement Award and the life membership of the Indian Society for Radiation and Photochemical Sciences in 2000.<ref name="Life Members">{{Cite web |url=http://www.israps.org.in/life-members.php |title=Life Members |date=2016 |publisher=Indian Society for Radiation and Photochemical Sciences}}</ref> In 2005, Calcutta University awarded him the Eminent Teacher Award<ref name="Eminent Teacher Award">{{Cite web |url=http://www.caluniv.ac.in/about/Eminent-teacher.html |title=Eminent Teacher Award |date=2016 |publisher=Calcutta University}}</ref> and the next year, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the [[Indian Chemical Society]], followed by the Gold Medal of the Chemical Research Society of India, a year later.<ref name="Awards: Year - 2007">{{Cite web |url=http://www.crsi.org.in/index.php/crsi-awards/year-1999-2008 |title=Awards: Year – 2007 |date=2016 |publisher=Chemical Research Society of India |access-date=17 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161016123938/http://www.crsi.org.in/index.php/crsi-awards/year-1999-2008 |archive-date=16 October 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Chowdhury was a recipient of [[honoris causa]] degrees of Doctor of Science of the [[Vidyasagar University]] (2007) and [[Presidency University, Kolkata|Presidency University]] (2013).<ref name="Presidency University to honour Ranajit Guha, Mihir Chowdhury">{{Cite web |url=http://www.sify.com/news/presidency-university-to-honour-ranajit-guha-mihir-chowdhury-news-education-niuuEjfdebhsi.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161117211843/http://www.sify.com/news/presidency-university-to-honour-ranajit-guha-mihir-chowdhury-news-education-niuuEjfdebhsi.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 November 2016 |title=Presidency University to honour Ranajit Guha, Mihir Chowdhury |date=20 August 2013 |website=[[Sify]]}}</ref> He was a National Lecturer of the [[University Grants Commission of India]] in 1980 and the award orations he has delivered include Mitra Memorial Lecture of [[Delhi University]] (1988),<ref name="Mitra Memorial Lecture">{{Cite web |url=http://people.du.ac.in/~rkant/MitraMemorial.html |title=Mitra Memorial Lecture |date=2016 |publisher=Delhi University}}</ref> K. Rangadhama Rao Memorial Lecture of Indian National Science Academy (1989),<ref name="K. Rangadhama Rao Memorial Lecture">{{Cite web |url=http://insaindia.res.in/recipients.php#rangadhama |title=K. Rangadhama Rao Memorial Lecture |date=2016 |publisher=Indian National Science Academy |access-date=17 November 2016 |archive-date=16 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916233840/http://insaindia.res.in/recipients.php#rangadhama |url-status=dead }}</ref> J. C. Ghosh Memorial Lecture of Indian Chemical Society (1997), Morris Travers Memorial Lecture of the [[Indian Institute of Science]] (1998),<ref name="Morris Travers Memorial Lecture">{{Cite web |url=http://www.iisc.ac.in/institute-lectures/memorial-lectures/ |title=Morris Travers Memorial Lecture |date=2016 |publisher=Indian Institute of Science}}</ref> Baba Kartar Singh Memorial Lecture of [[Panjab University]] (1999), Sadhan Basu Memorial Lecture of Indian National Science Academy (2002)<ref name="Sadhan Basu Memorial Lecture">{{Cite web |url=http://insaindia.res.in/recipients.php#sadhan |title=Sadhan Basu Memorial Lecture |date=2016 |publisher=Indian National Science Academy |access-date=17 November 2016 |archive-date=16 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916233840/http://insaindia.res.in/recipients.php#sadhan |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the Mizushima-Raman Lectures in Japan (2003).<ref name="Indian fellow" /> The Indian Academy of Sciences elected him as a fellow in 1977 before he became a fellow of the Indian National Science Academy in 1980.<ref name="Fellow profile" />

== Selected bibliography ==
* {{Cite journal |last=Mihir Chowdhury, Sadhan Basu |title=Nature of Intermolecular Forces in Quinhydrone |journal=INSA |date=1961 |volume=27}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Mihir Chowdhury, Sadhan Basu |title=Some Notes on Molecular Complexes between Iodine and Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons |journal=J. Chem. Phys. |year=1960 |volume=32 |issue=1450 |page=a |doi=10.1063/1.1730939|bibcode=1960JChPh..32.1450C }}
* {{Cite journal |author1=Samita Basu |author2=Liudmila Kundu |author3=Mihir Chowdhury |title=The influence of trivalent lanthanide ions on the magnetic field effect of pyrene-dimethylaniline exciplex luminescence |journal=Chemical Physics Letters |year=1987 |volume=141 |issue=1–2 |pages=115–118 |doi=10.1016/0009-2614(87)80102-1|bibcode=1987CPL...141..115B }}
* {{Cite journal |author1=Tapanendu Kundu |author2=Asok K. Banerjee |author3=Mihir Chowdhury |title=Two-photon spectra of single-crystal gadolinium diglycolate |journal=Phys. Rev. B |year=1990 |volume=41 |issue=10911 |pages=10911–10922 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevB.41.10911|pmid=9993510 |bibcode=1990PhRvB..4110911K }}
* {{Cite journal |author1=Tapanendu Kundu |author2=Asok K. Banerjee |author3=Mihir Chowdhury |title=Erratum: Two-photon spectra of single-crystal gadolinium diglycolate |journal=Phys. Rev. B |year=1991 |volume=44 |issue=7769 |page=7769 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevB.44.7769|pmid=9998706 |doi-access=free }}
* {{Cite journal |last=Mihir Chowdhury |title=Selection Rules For Processes Involving Photon-Molecule Interaction: A Symmetry-Conservation-Based Approach Bypassing Transition Matrix Elements |journal=J. Chem. Educ. |year=1996 |volume=73 |issue=8 |page=743 |doi=10.1021/ed073p743|bibcode=1996JChEd..73..743C }}

== See also ==
* [[Sadhan Basu]]
* [[Robert S. Mulliken]]
{{portal|India|Chemistry}}

== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=note}}

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

{{SSBPST recipients in Chemical Science}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chowdhury, Mihir}}
[[Category:1937 births]]
[[Category:2017 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Dhaka]]
[[Category:Bengali scientists]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Calcutta]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Presidency University, Kolkata]]
[[Category:Pennsylvania State University alumni]]
[[Category:University of Chicago alumni]]
[[Category:Indian physical chemists]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Chemical Science]]
[[Category:Rare earth scientists]]
[[Category:Scientists from West Bengal]]

Mihir Chowdhury - Revision history

Aman Mehta: added a pg needs work