About

Prof. Jagadishwar Mahanty Lecture Series in Physics has been instituted by Dr. Siddharth Mahanty in memory of his father, Prof. Jagdishwar Mahanty, who was a faculty member of the Physics Department at IIT Kanpur from 1961-1972. He made important contributions to Condensed Matter Physics, particularly, to the study of many body physics, lattice dynamics, van-der-Waals interactions and electronic structure of solids. Prof. Mahanty was born on 20th July 1932 in Puri, Orissa. After his M. Sc. in Physics from Calcutta University, he worked for several years at the National Physical Laboratory. In 1956, he went to the University of Maryland, USA for his doctoral degree. After completing his Ph.D. in 1960 he joined Panjab University, Chandigarh and subsequently joined the Physics department of IIT Kanpur in 1961. He was instrumental in shaping the Physics department during its infancy. He was the Head of the Physics department from 1967 to 1972. In 1971, Prof. Mahanty decided to concentrate on his own research and gave up the administrative responsibility. In 1972, he joined the prestigious Australian National University and superannuated from there in July 1995 due to ill health. Prof. Mahanty was an excellent physicist with a very modest and kind personality. His helpful nature to both students and colleagues was a great asset of his character. He was a warm and caring person who is greatly missed by his family and friends.