Bimla Buti (19 September 1933 – 24 February 2024) was an Indian physicist who specialized in the field of

plasma physics Plasma () is a state of matter characterized by the presence of a significant portion of charged particles in any combination of ions or electrons. It is the most abundant form of ordinary matter in the universe, mostly in stars (including th ...

. She was the first Indian woman Physicist Fellow of

Indian National Science Academy The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) is a national academy in New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three b ...

(INSA). In 1994, she was awarded INSA-Vainu Bappu Award.

Education

Buti obtained a

BSc (Hons) A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

and a MSc degree in Physics from

University of Delhi The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

. She was admitted to the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

for doctoral studies. She worked under the supervision of

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (; 19 October 1910 – 21 August 1995) was an Indian Americans, Indian-American theoretical physicist who made significant contributions to the scientific knowledge about the structure of stars, stellar evolution and ...

and in 1962 she earned a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

degree in plasma physics.

Career

After earning her doctorate, Buti returned to India and took up a teaching role at Delhi University. Two years later, she went back to the US to work at

Goddard Space Flight Center The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C., in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States. Established on May 1, 1959, as NASA's first space flight center, GSFC ...

. In 1968 Buti came back to India and took a job at the

Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT- Delhi) is a public institute of technology located in Delhi, India. It is one of the 23 Indian Institutes of Technology created to be a Centre of Excellence for India's training, research and developme ...

Vikram Sarabhai Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai (12 August 1919 – 30 December 1971) was an Indian physicist and astronomer who initiated space research and helped to develop nuclear power in India. Often regarded as the "''Father of Indian space program''", Sar ...

, the then Director of Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), invited Buti to join PRL, where Buti served from 1970 to 1993 as Associate Professor, Professor, Senior Professor and Dean of Faculty. At PRL, Buti started a new section for the experimental Plasma Physics programme. Shortly thereafter, this group was spun off as a separate institution known as Institute of Plasma Research under the aegis of the Indian Department of Atomic Energy. Between 1985 and 2003, Buti was the Director of Plasma Physics at the

International Centre for Theoretical Physics The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) is a research center for physical and mathematical sciences, located in Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The center operates under a tripartite agreement between the Gov ...

, Trieste, Italy. Buti, in her career, published a large number of research papers and edited four books. Between 1977 and 1983, she was an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, USA. She founded Plasma Science Society and worked there as its president between 1992 and 1993. Buti died on 24 February 2024, at the age of 90.

Awards and honours

Buti has received the following awards during her career— * Vikram Sarabhai Award for Planetary Sciences (1977) * Jawarharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Lectureship Award, 1993 * INSA-Vainu Bappu Award for Astrophysics, 1994 * Professional Achievement Citation Award of University of Chicago, USA (1996) * US Medal for Fundamental Contributions in the Physics of Nonlinear Waves and Chaos (2010) * Fellow of

TWAS The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries (TWAS) is a merit-based science academy established for developing countries, uniting more than 1,400 scientists in some 100 countries. Its principal aim is t ...

* Fellow of National Academy of Sciences (India) * Fellow of

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...

* Fellow of the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buti, Bimla 1933 births 2024 deaths Indian women physicists Articles created or expanded during Women's History Month (India) - 2014 20th-century Indian physicists Academic staff of IIT Delhi University of Chicago alumni Scientists from Delhi Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy Fellows of the National Academy of Sciences, India Fellows of the American Physical Society 20th-century Indian women scientists