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Subject: Proposal to Institute the Prof. Bhaskar Dash Memorial Lecture under the Orissa Chemical Society
Dear Respected Members of the Orissa Chemical Society,
I, Prof. Prasant Kumar Dash, on behalf of the members of the family, humbly propose to institute a Memorial Lecture in the name of my revered father-in-law, Late Prof. (Dr.) Bhaskar Dash, with an endowment fund of Rs. 5,00,000/- (Rupees Five Lakh only).
Prof. (Dr.) Bhaskar Dash was born on 17th February 1930 in the village of Simudi, in the then undivided Puri District of Odisha. He passed the High School Certificate Examination in First Division from Nimapara High School in 1948. He completed his I.Sc., B.Sc. (Hons.) in Chemistry, and M.Sc. in Chemistry from Ravenshaw College, Cuttack, in the years 1950, 1952, and 1954, respectively.
He was awarded the Ph.D. degree in Organic Chemistry by Utkal University in 1961, having carried out his doctoral research under the esteemed supervision of Prof. Mahendra Kumar Rout. Notably, Prof. D. H. R. Barton, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, served as one of the examiners of his Ph.D. thesis and highly recommended it for the award of the degree.
Prof. Dash pursued post-doctoral research at Brandeis University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA, for periods of one year and two years, respectively, where he worked extensively on nucleic acids and the synthesis of Vitamin D.
He had an illustrious academic and research career spanning over 33 years, during which eight scholars earned their Ph.D. degrees under his able supervision. His primary areas of specialization were Organic Chemistry and Medicinal Chemistry, and he authored 60 research publications in reputed national and international journals.
His teaching career included ten years at Ravenshaw College, Cuttack (including four months at S.C.S. College, Puri) and twenty-three years in the Department of Chemistry, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, where he served with distinction as Lecturer, Reader, and Professor of Chemistry.
Prof. Dash was a Fellow and Member of several prestigious professional bodies in India and abroad, including the University Grants Commission (UGC), Sigma XI Society, MIT (USA), New York Academy of Sciences, Institution of Chemists (India), Odisha Bigyan Academy, and Bigyan Prachar Samiti, among others.
He also served as the President of the Orissa Chemical Society (OCS) in 1994, during which the Annual Conference of the Society was successfully held on December 10–11, 1994, at Sambalpur University, Jyoti Vihar, Burla.
I respectfully propose that the Orissa Chemical Society institute the “Prof. Bhaskar Dash Memorial Lecture” in the field of Synthetic Organic Chemistry for Biological and Biomedical Applications. Each year, a distinguished researcher from India or abroad, who has made seminal contributions in Synthetic Organic Chemistry, may be invited to deliver this memorial lecture.
Upon kind acceptance of this proposal by the Orissa Chemical Society, I shall transfer the endowment fund to the official bank account of the Society at the earliest.
With respectful regards,
Prof. Prasant Kumar Dash |
