Renowned astrophysicist and mathematician Prof. Shashikumar Chitre passes away
Manasi Saraf Joshi
Pune, January 12, 2021: Renowned astrophysicist and mathematician Prof. Shashikumar Madhusudan Chitre passed away at the age of 84 years at Kokilaben Ambani Hospital in Mumbai. He was born on May 7, 1936. He graduated from Elphinstone College in Mumbai.
He received the ‘Duke Edinburgh’, scholarship to complete his master’s degree. He completed his further studies from Cambridge University. He received Padma Bhushan 2012. Chitre was known for his teaching skills and was popular among the students.
He worked for some time at Leeds University and also did his research at California Institute of Technology. He returned to India in 1967 and joined Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) till his retirement.
A stalwart of Indian Astronomy community and particularly solar physics he retired as a senior professor from TIFR in Mumbai in 2001. He was the driving force behind the establishment of UM-DAE CEBS in the Kalina campus of Mumbai University. He served on boards of Nehru Centre trust as well as J. N. Tata trust for several years. He was also passionate about science education and outreach and gave several lectures in schools and colleges. Incidentally, he was the voice behind the first-ever show in Mumbai’s iconic Nehru Planetarium.
He was the former president of Astronomical Society of India and was a member of multiple committees in recent decades which shaped India’s science policy.
