Zoyeford: Adding Biography

2026-02-24T17:59:06Z

Adding Biography

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{{short description|Indian theoretical physicist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Sumathi Rao
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1956|12|5|df=yes}}
| fields = [[Condensed Matter Physics]] [[Quantum Field Theory]]
| workplaces = {{ublist|[[Fermilab]]|[[Tata Institute of Fundamental Research]]|[[Harish-Chandra Research Institute]]|[[Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal]]}}
| alma_mater = {{ublist|[[IIT Bombay]]|[[Stony Brook University]]|[[Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda]]}}
| website = http://www.hri.res.in/~sumathi/
| spouse = [[Ashoke Sen]]
| awards = {{ublist|Fellow of the [[National Academy of Sciences]]|Fellow of the [[Indian Academy of Sciences]]}}
| image =
}}

'''Sumathi Rao''' (born 5 December 1956) is an Indian [[Theoretical physicists|theoretical physicist]] and professor at the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Bengaluru, working in the field of [[condensed matter physics]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=ICTS Faculty profile|url=https://www.icts.res.in/people/sumathi-r|access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Fellowship {{!}} Indian Academy of Sciences|url=https://www.ias.ac.in/describe/fellow/Rao,_Prof._Sumathi|website=www.ias.ac.in|access-date=2020-05-27}}</ref> She is a former member of women in physics promotion of [[International Union of Pure and Applied Physics]] (IUPAP) from 2000 to 2008.

== Education ==

Rao earned her [[Bachelor of Science]] degree in physics from [[Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda]] in 1977 and [[Master of Science]] degree in physics from [[Indian Institute of Technology Mumbai]] with distinction in 1979. She worked on ''[[Neutrino oscillation|Neutrino Oscillations]]'' during her Masters. She received her doctoral degree entitled ''B-L violation in grand unified theories'' from [[Stony Brook University]], US under the supervision of Robert Shrock in 1983.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Physics Faculty|url=http://www.hri.res.in/people/Physics/fac/|website=www.hri.res.in|access-date=2020-05-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Rao|first=S. S.|date=1983|title=(B-L)-violation in grand unified theories|url=http://inis.iaea.org/Search/search.aspx?orig_q=RN:16027895|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Anveshanā • July 2025 • Interview with Sumathi Rao |url=https://anveshanamagazine.github.io/sumathi-rao.html |access-date=2026-02-24 |website=anveshanamagazine.github.io}}</ref>

== Research career ==
Rao completed her PhD in [[high energy physics]] in the sub-field of [[Grand Unified Theory|grand unified theories]]. After holding postdoctoral positions at [[Fermilab]] and at the [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]], she joined the [[Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar]] in 1987.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Indian Academy of Sciences talk page of Sumathi Rao|url=https://mym2017.ias.ac.in/Speakers/Sumathi_Rao}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Research Associates (Postdocs) {{!}} Theoretical Physics Department|url=https://theory.fnal.gov/alumni/alumni-postdocs/|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-28}}</ref> She made the crucial decision to shift her field of research to theoretical [[condensed matter physics]] from [[high energy physics]] upon finding that her achievements were being belittled, and her work and papers attributed to her husband [[Ashoke Sen]] who was working in the same field.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2012-08-08|title=India's million-dollar scientist|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-19160625|access-date=2020-06-05}}</ref> Much of her training in high energy physics and contacts abroad would no longer be useful and she would have to start all over again.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Overcoming fear and forging ahead|url=https://www.ias.ac.in/public/Resources/Initiatives/Women_in_Science/Contributors/sumathirao.pdf}}</ref>

Rao is currently a [[condensed matter system]]s Professor at the [[Harish-Chandra Research Institute]] (HRI) and has been there since 1995.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sumathi Rao {{!}} Perimeter Institute|url=https://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/people/sumathi-rao|access-date=2020-06-03|website=www.perimeterinstitute.ca}}</ref> She has been working in the area of electronic transport in [[quantum wire]]s, [[quantum dot]]s and in the field of correlated [[mesoscopic physics]] in low dimensions.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sumathi Rao|url=http://www.hri.res.in/~anlweb/academic_reports_physics/p_rao_sumathi/p_rao_sumathi.html|access-date=2020-06-03|website=www.hri.res.in}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=INSPIRE|url=https://inspirehep.net/authors/992285|access-date=2020-06-03|website=inspirehep.net}}</ref>

She also worked as an associate scientist at International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS), a centre of the [[Tata Institute of Fundamental Research]] and at the [[International Centre for Theoretical Physics|Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics]] (ICTP), Trieste.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=ICTS Associates|url=https://www.icts.res.in/people/sumathi-rao}}</ref> In the year 2020 she has joined [[Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal]] (IISER Bhopal), Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India as a Visiting / Adjunct Professor in the department of Physics.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://phy.iiserb.ac.in/faculty.php#|title=Department of Physics|publisher=Indian Institute of Science, Education & Research- Bhopal (IISER-Bhopal)}}</ref>

== Women in science promotion ==
Rao has always been vocal about the detrimental biases faced by women academic scholars. Rao's scientific contributions were undervalued with innuendos that her husband, also a famous scientist in the same field, wrote her papers for her.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Women in Science|url=https://indscicomm.blog/2017/05/19/women-in-science/|last=IndSciComm|date=2017-05-19|website=IndSciComm|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Rao|first=Sumathi|date=1999|title=Women scientists: A contradiction in terms?|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/24101320|journal=Current Science|volume=76|issue=1|pages=24–26|jstor=24101320 |issn=0011-3891}}</ref> She has involved in the [[International Union of Pure and Applied Physics]] (IUPAP) working group ''women in physics'' which has been working to increase the representation of women in physics, particularly at higher and decisionmaking levels of from its inception in 2000 until 2008.<ref>{{Cite web|title=IUPAP Working Group on Women in Physics|url=http://wgwip.df.uba.ar/|access-date=2020-06-03|website=wgwip.df.uba.ar}}</ref>

She wrote articles focusing on the topic of getting girls interested in a career in science or engineering and interested in reaching the top of their profession, the hurdles they will have to face, and the ways to improve their chances of making it to the top of respective fields.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Godbole|first=Rohini M.|date=2005|title=Women in Physics in India, 2005|journal=AIP Conference Proceedings|language=en|location=Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)|publisher=AIP|volume=795|pages=129–130|doi=10.1063/1.2128297|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Rao|first1=Sumathi|last2=Adams|first2=Jenni|last3=Andam|first3=Aba|last4=Frederiksen|first4=Ashild|last5=Gupte|first5=Neelima|last6=Gyanchandani|first6=Jyoti|last7=Hooijer|first7=Christa|last8=O’Brien|first8=John|last9=Saeta|first9=Peter|date=2002-08-20|title=Topic 1: Attracting Girls Into Physics|url=https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.1505270|journal=AIP Conference Proceedings|volume=628|issue=1|pages=9–12|doi=10.1063/1.1505270|issn=0094-243X|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

== Fellowships and awards ==
Rao has been awarded as Fellow of [[National Academy of Sciences, India]] in 2001 and Fellow of the [[Indian Academy of Sciences]] in 2017 for her contributions in the theoretical condensed matter physics.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Fellowship {{!}} Indian Academy of Sciences|url=https://www.ias.ac.in/describe/fellow/Rao,_Prof._Sumathi|website=www.ias.ac.in|access-date=2020-05-28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Vidwan {{!}} Profile Page|url=https://vidwan.inflibnet.ac.in/profile/42926#honours_information_panel|website=vidwan.inflibnet.ac.in|access-date=2020-05-28}}</ref> She was named a [[Fellow of the American Physical Society]] in 2022 "for contributions to transport in low-dimensional interacting systems, especially junctions of more than two wires, edge/surface physics of topological systems, and for contributions to overcoming the under-representation of women in physics".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aps.org/programs/honors/fellowships/archive-all.cfm?initial=&year=2022|title=Fellows nominated in 2022|work=APS Fellows archive|publisher=American Physical Society|access-date=2022-10-19}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==

* [https://inis.iaea.org/search/search.aspx?orig_q=RN:16027895 B-L violation in grand unified theories] - Rao's PhD Thesis
* [http://wgwip.df.uba.ar/ Women in physics] - Working group of IUPAP

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, Sumathi}}
[[Category:Indian physicists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women physicists]]
[[Category:Indian women academics]]
[[Category:Stony Brook University alumni]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:IIT Bombay alumni]]
[[Category:Condensed matter physicists]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society]]
[[Category:Indian theoretical physicists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian physicists]]
[[Category:1956 births]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women]]
[[Category:21st-century women physicists]]
[[Category:People associated with the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics]]

Sumathi Rao - Revision history

Zoyeford: Adding Biography