Girjesh Govil (25 September 1940 – 12 October 2021) was an Indian molecular biophysicist and a Raja Ramanna professor at the

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) is a leading research Institute under the Department of Atomic Energy of the Government of India. It is a public deemed university located at Navy Nagar, Colaba in Mumbai. It also has a centres in ...

. He was known for his researches on semi-empirical quantum chemical theories. He was an elected fellow of

The World Academy of Sciences The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries (TWAS) is a North–south research partnerships, merit-based science academy established for developing countries, uniting more than 1,400 scientists in some 1 ...

, and all the three major Indian science academies viz. the National Academy of Sciences, India,

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 ...

and the

Indian Academy of Sciences The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and List of Nobel laureates, Nobel Laureate Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 27 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it ...

. The

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR; IAST: ''vaigyanik tathā audyogik anusandhāna pariṣada'') is a research and development (R&D) organisation in India to promote scientific, industrial and economic growth. Headquarter ...

, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1978, for his contributions to chemical sciences.

Biography

Girjesh Govil, born to Mangalsen - Dharamdevi couple on 25 September 1940 at

Khurja Khurja is a city (and a municipal board) in Bulandshahr district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh. It is situated around 20 km from Bulandshahr and 85 km from Delhi. Khurja supplies a large portion of th ...

, a town in Bulandshahr district of the Indian state of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

, known for traditional ceramics products, did his graduate studies in chemistry at

Lucknow University University of Lucknow (informally known as Lucknow University, and LU) is one of the oldest public state university based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. LU's main campus is located at Badshah Bagh, University Road area of the city with a second ...

in 1956 and completed his master's degree at

Allahabad University The University of Allahabad is a Central University located in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. It was established on 23 September 1887 by an act of Parliament and is recognised as an Institute of National Importance (INI). It is the 4th oldest mode ...

in 1958. His career started at

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is India's premier nuclear research facility, headquartered in Trombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It was founded by Homi Jehangir Bhabha as the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay (AEET) in January 1954 ...

in 1959 but after a short while, he joined

(TIFR) and while serving the institute, he did his doctoral studies under S. S. Dharmatti simultaneously to secure a PhD from

Mumbai University University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. It was est ...

in 1963. Subsequently, he went abroad and did his post-doctoral studies at

National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom) The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is the national measurement standards laboratory of the United Kingdom. It sets and maintains physical standards for British industry. Founded in 1900, the NPL is one of the oldest metrology institutes i ...

and National Research Council. Returning to Tata Institute of Fundamental Research as a senior professor, he served as an INSA Golden Jubilee Research Professor there. In between, he had short stints at NRC,

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

and Kobe University as a visiting scientist. Govil was married to Anuradha Mithal and the couple has a son, Anurag and two daughters, Shalini and Shivani. He lived in Mumbai.

Legacy

Govil got attracted to the then new field of

nuclear magnetic resonance Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a physical phenomenon in which nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are disturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field (in the near field) and respond by producing an electromagnetic signal with a ...

towards the beginning of his research career and most of his activities were focused on it. Working on the conformational aspects of biological molecules such as

peptides Peptides are short chains of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. A polypeptide is a longer, continuous, unbranched peptide chain. Polypeptides that have a molecular mass of 10,000 Dalton (unit), Da or more are called proteins. Chains of fewer t ...

nucleotides Nucleotides are Organic compound, organic molecules composed of a nitrogenous base, a pentose sugar and a phosphate. They serve as monomeric units of the nucleic acid polymers – deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), both o ...

saccharides A carbohydrate () is a biomolecule composed of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) atoms. The typical hydrogen-to-oxygen atomic ratio is 2:1, analogous to that of water, and is represented by the empirical formula (where ''m'' and ''n'' ma ...

and

lipids Lipids are a broad group of organic compounds which include fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins Vitamin A, A, Vitamin D, D, Vitamin E, E and Vitamin K, K), monoglycerides, diglycerides, phospholipids, and others. The fu ...

, he developed applications of semi-empirical quantum chemical theories and elucidated the structure of nucleotides using conformational energy maps and rotational energy states. His calculations of non-bonded and hydrogen-bonded interactions of biomolecules are reported to have been precise and he also made contributions on stacking and base pairing in ordered nucleic acids, lipid structures in biomembranes and their structural flexibility and transport properties. His researches are documented in over 250 articles published in peer-reviewed journals and five books which included ''NMR in Biological Systems: From Molecules to Human'' and ''NMR''; he also contributed chapters to ''India in the World of Physics: Then and Now'', authored by Asoke Nath Mitra and ''Science and Modern India: An Institutional History'', edited by Das Gupta. Govil has guided several doctoral scholars in their researches and has served as a TWAS professor at

Kathmandu University Kathmandu University (KU) () is an autonomous university in Nepal. It is the third oldest university in Nepal, located in Dhulikhel of Kavrepalanchok District, about east of Kathmandu. It was established in 1991 with the motto "Quality Educat ...

. He has presided over the International Council for NMR in Biological Systems, the Indian Biophysical Society, the Indian Chemical Society and has served as the vice president of the

International Union of Pure and Applied Physics The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP; ) is an international non-governmental organization whose mission is to assist in the worldwide development of physics, to foster international cooperation in physics, and to help in the ...

. He has been associated with the

as the secretary of its council from 1989 to 1991 and as an additional member in 2002.

Awards and honors

The

awarded Govil the

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Shanti or Shanthi may refer to: In Sanskrit * Inner peace, a state of being mentally and spiritually at peace, with enough knowledge and understanding to keep oneself strong in the face of discord or stress * Kshanti, one of the paramitas of B ...

, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1978. A Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Visiting Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy and a Raja Ramanna fellow at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, he has received several other awards and the list includes FICCI Award, Goyal Award, and the Lifetime Achievement Awards of the Indian Science Congress Association and the Indian Chemical Society. Besides being an elected fellow of

, he was also an elected fellow of Indian National Science Academy, Indian Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences, India.

Selected bibliography

Books

* * * *

Articles

* * * *

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Govil, Girjesh 1940 births 2021 deaths Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Chemical Science Scientists from Uttar Pradesh Indian biophysicists Fellows of the National Academy of Sciences, India Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy TWAS fellows