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 public deemed research university located in Mumbai, India that is dedicated to basic research in mathematics and the sciences. It is a Deemed University and works under the umbrella of the De ...

. 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 (TWAS) is a merit-based science academy established for developing countries, uniting 1,000 scientists in some 70 countries. Its principal aim is to promote scientific capacity and excellence for sustainable deve ...

, and all the three major Indian science academies viz. the

National Academy of Sciences, India The National Academy of Sciences, India, established in 1930, is the oldest science academy in India. It is located in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Prof. Meghnad Saha was the founder president. Fellows *Suddhasatwa Basu *Sudha Bhattacharya * Chi ...

Indian National Science Academy The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) is a national academy in New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the NCT Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is t ...

and the

Indian Academy of Sciences The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and Nobel Laureate C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 24 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it began with 65 founding fellows. The first general mee ...

. The

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research ( IAST: ''vaigyanik tathā audyogik anusandhāna pariṣada''), abbreviated as CSIR, was established by the Government of India in September 1942 as an autonomous body that has emerged as the ...

, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (SSB) is a science award in India given annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for notable and outstanding research, applied or fundamental, in biology, ...

, 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 state of Uttar Pradesh. It is situated around 20 km from Bulandshahr, 85 km from Delhi. Khurja supplies a large portion of the ceramics used in the country, henc ...

, a town in

Bulandshahr district Bulandshahr district (also spelled Bulandshahar) is a district in the Meerut region in the North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (UP), situated between the two rivers Ganga and Yamuna. It is a part of the National Capital Region of India, and Bulan ...

of the Indian state of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

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

Lucknow University The University of Lucknow (informally known as Lucknow University, and LU) is a public state university based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Founded in 1920, the University of Lucknow is one of the oldest government owned institutions of higher ed ...

in 1956 and completed his master's degree at

Allahabad University , mottoeng = "As Many Branches So Many Trees" , established = , type = Public , chancellor = Ashish Chauhan , vice_chancellor = Sangita Srivastava , head_label ...

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 ...

in 1959 but after a short while, he joined

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

Mumbai University The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed h ...

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 is one of the most extensive government laboratories in the UK and has a prestigious reputation for its role in setting and maint ...

and

National Research Council National Research Council may refer to: * National Research Council (Canada), sponsoring research and development * National Research Council (Italy), scientific and technological research, Rome * National Research Council (United States), part of ...

. Returning to Tata Institute of Fundamental Research as a senior professor, he served as an

INSA The Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) is a non-profit, nonpartisan 501(c)(6) professional organization based in Arlington Virginia for public and private sector members of the United States Intelligence Community. History ...

Golden Jubilee Research Professor there. In between, he had short stints at NRC,

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U ...

and

Kobe University , also known in the Kansai region as , is a leading Japanese national university located in the city of Kobe, in Hyōgo. It was established in 1949, but the academic origins of Kobe University trace back to the establishment of Kobe Higher Com ...

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 perturbed 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. Long chains of amino acids are called proteins. Chains of fewer than twenty amino acids are called oligopeptides, and include dipeptides, tripeptides, and tetrapeptides. ...

nucleotides Nucleotides are organic molecules consisting of a nucleoside and a phosphate. They serve as monomeric units of the nucleic acid polymers – deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), both of which are essential biomolecules wi ...

saccharides In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may or may ...

and

lipids Lipids are a broad group of naturally-occurring molecules which includes fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins A, D, E and K), monoglycerides, diglycerides, phospholipids, and others. The functions of lipids includ ...

, 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) ( ne, काठमाण्डौ विश्वविद्यालय) is a public autonomous university in Nepal. It is the third oldest university in Nepal, located in Dhulikhel of Kavrepalanchok District, about ...

. He has presided over the International Council for NMR in Biological Systems, the Indian Biophysical Society, the

Indian Chemical Society The Indian Chemical Society is a scientific society dedicated in the field of chemistry from India. It was established in 1924 with Prafulla Chandra Ray as its founding president. The same year the society started to publish its "Quarterly Journ ...

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 The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (SSB) is a science award in India given annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for notable and outstanding research, applied or fundamental, in biology, ...

, 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 Indian scientific authors Fellows of The National Academy of Sciences, India Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy TWAS fellows