Vinod Krishan (born 14 October 1946
Women Scientists in India
'. National Book Trust, India. p. 209.), is an Indian

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

, a Senior Professor and dean of sciences at the

Indian Institute of Astrophysics The Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), with its headquarters in Bengaluru, is an autonomous research institute wholly funded by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. IIA conducts research primarily in the areas of ...

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. She is involved in teaching and research in

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 is a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India and the 1991 recipient of the Vikram Sarabhai Award for Space Sciences.

Early life

Krishan lived with her grandparents until she was in fourth grade, when she moved to

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

to live with her parents, Om Prakash and Raj Dulari Pabbi. She traces her first interest in science to trying to replicate an electronic bell from her physics textbook and shorting out the electrical circuits in her home, much to her father's delight.

Education

Vinod Krishan's post-secondary academic career began with earning a BSc Degree (Physics, Chemistry & Maths) in 1966 and M.Sc.(Physics) degree in 1968 from the

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 also holds a diploma in German (1968) from the University of Delhi. She did her doctoral degree (Ph.D.) from the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

, United States in 1971 and her thesis was on "Damping of plasmons in a nearly free electron gas" in the field of

Solid State Physics Solid-state physics is the study of rigid matter, or solids, through methods such as solid-state chemistry, quantum mechanics, crystallography, electromagnetism, and metallurgy. It is the largest branch of condensed matter physics. Solid-state p ...

, and was a Post-doctoral Fellow at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, Canada (1971–73).

Career

Vinod Krishan initially worked as Pool Officer at the Centre for Theoretical Studies,

Indian Institute of Science The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a Public university, public, Deemed university, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The ...

, Bangalore from November 1973 to August 1975 and then worked as a University Grants Commission Research Associate. She worked in various capacities as Visiting Scientist (1977–78), a Fellow (1978–81), Reader (1981-1986), Associate Professor (1986-1991), and Professor (1991-1998) at the

, Bangalore, and was a senior Professor at the institute since 1998, teaching Plasma Astrophysics in the Joint Astronomy Programme. She retired from the IIA in 2008. Her research activities encompass the fields of Modeling of Solar Coronal Loops, Solar Granulation, Extragalactic Plasmas, and Structure Formation Through Hydrodynamics.

Awards

Vinod Krishan is recipient of the Dr. Vikram Sarabhai Research Award for Space Sciences for the year 1991. Apart from membership of various scientific institutions connected with her specialization, she is also a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences India, 1996. For many years she was also an active member of the International Astronomical Union, including hosting the 142nd Symposium in Bangalore, India, 1–5 December 1989.Basic Plasma Processes on the Sun: Proceedings of the 142nd Symposium
of the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...

Held in Bangalore, India, December 1–5, 1989. Netherlands, Springer Netherlands, 1990.

Publications and books

She has an over one hundred peer-reviewed papers to her credit in the fields of Laboratory Plasmas, Plasma Processes in Extragalactic Sources,

Solar Physics Solar physics is the branch of astrophysics that specializes in the study of the Sun. It intersects with many disciplines of pure physics and astrophysics. Because the Sun is uniquely situated for close-range observing (other stars cannot be re ...

, cometary plasmas, Structure Formation Through Hydrodynamics and many miscellaneous subjects. She edited proceedings of many conferences on solar and plasma physics including the IAU symposium (1989) in addition to being the chief Editor of the Bulletin of the Astronomical Society Of India for several years. She has published three books: 1. Astrophysical Plasmas and Fluids, Kluwer Academic Press, 1998; 2. Plasmas the First State of Matter, Cambridge University Press, 2014 and 3. Physics of Partially ionized Plasmas, Cambridge University Press, 2016.

Personal life

Krishan married Som Krishan in 1968, the same year she completed her master's degree. They completed their doctoral work and grappled with both finding work that would allow them to live in the same place. They have one child.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krishan, Vinod Living people Indian women physicists Scientists from Bengaluru Articles created or expanded during Women's History Month (India) - 2014 Delhi University alumni Indian astrophysicists 1946 births Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences 20th-century Indian physicists 20th-century Indian women University of Tennessee alumni