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{{Short description|Indian physicist}}
{{About|the physicist|the historian|R. C. Majumdar}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Ramesh Chandra Majumdar
| image =
| birth_date = 1 March 1904
| birth_place = Patgram, [[Dhaka Division|Dacca district]], [[Bengal Presidency]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1995|12|29|1904|03|01}}
| death_place = [[Calcutta]]
| alma_mater = [[Calcutta University]], [[University of Jena]]
| doctoral_advisor =
| doctoral_students = [[Asoke Nath Mitra]]
| known_for =
| footnotes =
| field = [[Physics]]
| work_institution = [[Bose Institute]], [[Delhi University]]
| prizes =
| religion =
}}
'''Ramesh Chandra Majumdar ''' (1904-1995) was an Indian physicist who made contributions in several branches of theoretical physics, notably statistical mechanics and ionospheric physics. He played a key role in setting up the Department of Physics and Astrophysics at the [[University of Delhi]], which he headed for around nine years, and also was pro-vice-chancellor of the university.<ref name="insabiography">{{cite web |title=Biographical Memoirs: RAMESH CHANDRA MAJUMDAR (1904 - 1995) |url=http://insaindia.res.in/BM/BM21_9907.pdf |publisher=Indian National Science Academy |accessdate=11 January 2019}}</ref> He was elected a Fellow of the [[Indian National Science Academy]] and was general secretary of the [[National Academy of Sciences, India]].

== Early life ==
Majumdar was born on 1 March 1904 in Patgram, a village in [[Dhaka Division|Dacca district]] of the [[Bengal Presidency]], now in [[Bangladesh]]. His father, Mahesh Chandra Majumdar worked in a tea estate in Jalpaiguri district of [[West Bengal]]. He had his schooling in Jalpaiguri. After completing his undergraduate studies at [[Rajshahi College]], he went to [[Calcutta]] to study for his master's degree in physics.

Majumdar studied physics at [[Calcutta University]] in the laboratory of [[Bidhu Bhushan Ray|B. B. Ray]], where he carried out an experiment that demonstrated the [[Raman effect]] in X-rays; this was published in ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' in 1931.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Majumdar|first1=R C|title=Part-Absorption Phenomena of X-Rays|journal=Nature|date=17 January 1931|volume=127|issue=3194|page=92|doi=10.1038/127092a0|bibcode=1931Natur.127...92M|s2cid=4130239|doi-access=free}}</ref> After completing his Master's in 1927, he moved to [[Allahabad University]], where he wrote a research paper with [[Meghnad Saha]]. For the rest of his career, he concentrated on [[theoretical physics]]. With Saha's encouragement, he went abroad for his doctoral studies and obtained his Ph.D. from the [[University of Jena]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Panchapakesan|first1=N.|title=DS Kothari and Delhi University|journal=Defence Science Journal|date=July 1994|volume=44|issue=3|pages=199–202|url=http://publications.drdo.gov.in/ojs/index.php/dsj/article/view/4169/2430|accessdate=9 April 2017|doi=10.14429/dsj.44.4169|doi-access=free|url-access=subscription}}</ref> During this period, he was a frequent visitor to [[Cambridge University]], where his friend and collaborator [[Daulat Singh Kothari]] was working for his Ph.D. According to one source, Majumdar went to Cambridge, "arriving — it is said — on the doorstep of Lord Rutherford's home on a Sunday afternoon".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Anderson|first1=Robert S.|title=Nucleus and Nation: Scientists, International Networks, and Power in India|date=May 2010|publisher=University of Chicago Press|page=44|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3BcKqXOeSbAC&q=majumdar+physics+allahabad+university&pg=PA44|accessdate=4 April 2017|isbn=9780226019772}}</ref>

== Career ==
After his return to India, Majumdar taught for a short period at Panjab University in [[Lahore]]. He then worked at the [[Bose Institute]] in Calcutta,<ref name="bose">{{cite web|title=Appendix III|url=http://resources.boseinst.ernet.in:8080/jspui/bitstream/123456789/2765/3/BI-BRI-APPENDIX-III-1917-38.pdf|website=Bose Institute|accessdate=9 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="gill">{{cite book|last1=Gill|first1=Piara Singh|title=Up Against Odds: Autobiography of an Indian Scientist|date=1992|publisher=Allied Publishers|page=96|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YMTZg_jhuEYC&q=r+c+majumdar|accessdate=4 April 2017|isbn=9788170233640}}</ref> before joining the Physics Department (later renamed Department of Physics and Astrophysics) of the University of Delhi in 1944. Along with Daulat Singh Kothari, who was then head of the department, he played an important role in building up the department by hiring key people to start new research groups.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Panchapakesan|first1=N.|title=LIVING LEGENDS IN INDIAN SCIENCE: Asoke Nath Mitra|journal=Current Science|date=10 January 2014|volume=106|issue=1|pages=106–109|url=http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/106/01/0106.pdf|accessdate=4 April 2017}}</ref> He headed the department from 1948 to 1951. In 1961, when Kothari was appointed chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC), Majumdar again took over as head of the department, and held the position until his appointment as pro-vice-chancellor in 1967.<ref name="insabiography" /> During his tenure as head, the department was recognised as a Centre of Advanced Studies by the UGC. Majumdar held the post of pro-vice-chancellor of the university from 1967 to 1969. Upon his retirement, he was appointed professor ''emeritus'' for life.

Both as head and as pro-vice chancellor, Majumdar was responsible for new facilities being set up in the department.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ivanov|first1=Y. N.|title=Liquid Nitrogen Plant (Centre of Advanced Studies, Department of Physics and Astrophysics, University of Delhi)|url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001822/182209eb.pdf|publisher=UNESCO|accessdate=11 April 2017}}</ref> He held a visiting assignment at the [[Tata Institute of Fundamental Research]] in 1948. According to [[Piara Singh Gill]], who held Majumdar in high regard as representing "the best traditions of scholarship", the Tata Institute authorities wanted Majumdar to stay on in Bombay, but he chose to return to Delhi.<ref name="gill" /> Majumdar was also a founding member of the Delhi University Teachers' Association.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bali|first1=Arun P.|title=College Teachers: Challenges and Responses : a Case Study of Delhi University|date=1 January 1986|publisher=Northern Book Centre|page=156|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MC6ScOymzacC&q=r+c+majumdar+pro+vice+chancellor+delhi&pg=PA156|accessdate=11 April 2017|isbn=9788185119212}}</ref>

== Honours and awards ==
* Premchand Roychand Research Student, University of Calcutta<ref name="bose" />
* Fellow, Indian National Science Academy (elected 1941)<ref>{{cite web|title=Deceased Fellow: Professor R. C. Majumdar|url=https://insaindia.res.in/detail/N41-0430|publisher=Indian National Science Academy|accessdate=16 September 2017}}</ref>
* General secretary, The National Academy of Sciences, India (1953, 1954)<ref>{{cite web|title=Past General Secretaries|url=http://www.nasi.org.in/pastgs.htm|publisher=The National Academy of Science, India|accessdate=4 April 2017}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
* Pro-vice-chancellor, University of Delhi<ref name="insabiography" />
*Professor Emeritus, University of Delhi<ref name="insabiography" />

== Books authored/edited by Ramesh Chandra Majumdar ==
* ''Bosons: Presented to Satyendra Nath Bose on the Occasion of His Seventieth Birthday'', edited by R. C. Majumdar, Hindustan Publishing, 1964

== Legacy ==
Majumdar's role as an institution-builder is important in the context of physics in India. As mentioned above, he played a major role in building up the Department of Physics and Astrophysics, both by hiring faculty to build up specific research areas and by setting up research facilities. He was also an influential teacher. Many students who attended his classes were inspired to take up research careers.<ref name="insabiography" /> Overall, Majumdar, through his life and work, reinforced the idea that it was possible to do high-quality physics research in a university, as evidenced by his turning down the TIFR offer.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}

Majumdar also started a tradition of organising summer schools on topics of current interest. These were typically directed at Ph.D. students, and held at various hill stations in Northern India.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Majumdar, Ramesh Chandra}}

[[Category:1904 births]]
[[Category:1995 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian physicists]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy]]
[[Category:Scientists from Kolkata]]
[[Category:People from Dhaka Division]]

Ramesh Chandra Majumdar (physicist) - Revision history

MinnieZox45714: creating basic info first draft