Yelavarthy Nayudamma (10 September 1922 – 23 June 1985) was an Indian

chemical engineer A chemical engineer is a professional equipped with the knowledge of chemistry and other basic sciences who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of Product (chemistry), products and deals with ...

and a

scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...

who served as the Director General of

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 ...

, Vice Chancellor of

Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU; ISO: Javāharalāla Neharū Viśvavidyālaya) is a public research university located in Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university ...

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 ...

. He was killed on

Air India Flight 182 Air India Flight 182 was a passenger flight operating on the Montréal–Mirabel International Airport, Montreal–Heathrow Airport, London–Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi–Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumb ...

(Emperor Kanishka bombing).Public hearing Volume 11

Archive
. ''Commission of Inquiry into the investigation of the Bombing of ap Flight 182 '' (Commission d'enquête relative aux measures d'investigation prises à s contre le vol 182 d'Air India). Friday 13 October 2006. p. 1034 (PDF 39-59).

Early life and education

Yelevarthy was born on 10 September 1922 into an

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

-speaking Kamma family at Yelavarru village near Tenali in Guntur district of present day

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

state in India. He was the eldest of three brothers and a sister. His parents Raghavamma and Anjaih named him Nayudammma (‘amma’ is a short name used by parents while referring to sons as well as daughters, while ‘Nayudu’ in Telugu means a leader). Yelavarthy was over six feet tall. He had his primary education in the village and studied Intermediate in AC College. Later, he did B.Sc., (Chemical Technology) at the famous

Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU), formerly Benares Hindu University, is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916. The university incorporated the Central Hindu College, ...

and a course in leather technology at Madras Institute of Leather Technology. He contributed to the initial development of the

Central Leather Research Institute Central Leather Research Institute or CLRI is the world's largest leather research institute in terms of Academic paper, research papers and patents. The institute located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu was founded on 24 April 1948 as a constituent labo ...

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

, India. He was responsible for building the international image of the institute and for establishing close ties with the Indian leather industry. Yelevarthy went to UK for further education and he went on to pursue doctoral degree in Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, USA.

Positions and honors

Yelevarthy served as the Director General of CSIR,

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 branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

and also as the 4th

Vice-Chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

of the prestigious

from 12 June 1981 to 27 October 1982. He also served on many prestigious national and international committees. He was awarded many national and international awards and honours, including

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

in 1971. Yelevarthy was conferred with the prestigious Raja-Lakshmi Award in the year 1983 from Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation, Chennai.

Death

Yelavarthy left India on 10 June 1985, to attend COSTED meeting in USSR and then the International Development Research Centre Governors meeting on 21 June in Ottawa, Canada. On 23 June he boarded

on a plane titled 'Emperor Kanishka', which was carrying 329 passengers. He died in the subsequent mid-air bombing over the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, South of Ireland. The terrorist attack was orchestrated by the Sikh extremist group, Babar Khalsa. He was married to Y. Pavana. He had two sons, Rathiesh and Ramesh, and one daughter Shanti. After Yelevarthy's death, his wife committed suicide.

Dr. Y. Nayudamma Memorial Award

Recipients of this prestigious award include T. Ramasami, A. Sivathanu Pillai, Nori Dattatreyudu,

Sam Pitroda Satyanarayan Gangaram Pitroda, popularly known as Sam Pitroda (Born, November 16, 1942), is an Indian official, telecommunications engineer, and entrepreneur. He was born in Titlagarh, in the eastern Indian state of Odisha, into a Gujarati f ...

, G. Madhavan Nair, Kota Harinarayana, V. K. Aatre, R. Chidambaram, R.A. Mashelkar, Jasbir Singh Bajaj, K. Kasturirangan, Verghese Kurien, S.Z. Qasim, M. G. K. Menon, Vijay Kumar Saraswat, Prasanna Kumar Motupalli and M.S. Swaminathan among others.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yelavarthy, Nayudamma Telugu people 1922 births 1985 deaths Recipients of the Padma Shri in trade and industry Banaras Hindu University alumni People from Guntur district Academic staff of Jawaharlal Nehru University Air India Flight 182 Scientists from Andhra Pradesh Indian chemical engineers Mass murder victims Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Ireland Indian people murdered abroad People murdered in Ireland Indian leather industry 20th-century Indian chemists Terrorism victims in India Victims of Sikh terrorism Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1985