Pranawachandra Deshmukh
Pranawa Deshmukh in Mumbai, 2023.
Born	(1950-09-12) 12 September 1950 Amravati
Nationality	Indian
Alma mater	Nagpur University (B.Sc, M.Sc, PhD)
Spouse	Sudha Deshmukh
Children	Wiwek Deshmukh
Scientific career
Fields	Physics
Institutions	Indian Institute of Technology Madras Indian Institute of Technology Mandi Indian Institute of Technology Tirupati Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Tirupati Dayananda Sagar University, Bengaluru
Doctoral advisor	Dr. Chintamani Mande Dr. P. L. Khare
Website	www.iittp.ac.in/dr-p-c-deshmukh

Pranawachandra Deshmukh (born 12 September 1950) is an Indian physicist and educator, known for his contributions to theoretical atomic physics, collisions and light-matter interactions, ultrafast atomic processes, applications of Lambert W Function in pure and applied physics.^[1] He has made many contributions to physics education, including publishing foundation textbooks in classical and quantum physics. He taught classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, and collision theory, and his lectures are freely available through NPTEL.

Biography

Pranawachandra Deshmukh was born in Amravati on 12 September 1950.

Deshmukh graduated from Nagpur University in 1970 with a Bachelor of Science in physics. He then finished his Master of Science from Nagpur University in 1973.

Deshmukh earned his Ph.D. from Nagpur University in 1979, under the joint supervision of Dr. Chintamani Mande and Dr. P. L. Khare.^[2]

Deshmukh's teaching has focused on classical and quantum physics which has helped the subject become essential for students of many science and engineering majors. He has mentored many young scientists, seventeen doctoral candidates and multiple undergraduate students. His video lectures are popular on YouTube and NPTEL^[3][4][5]

University Positions

Following his PhD studies, from 1978 to 1979, Deshmukh was a DANIDA fellow at University of Aarhus, Aarhus in the Physics department and worked with Professor Jan Linderberg.^[2]

From 1979 to 1980 he was a research associate at University of Notre Dame under Professor R. Hayes and Professor W. R. Johnson. From 1980 until 1983, Deshmukh was a research associate at Georgia State University and worked with Professor S. T. Manson.^[2][1]

Deshmukh returned to India in 1984 and joined Department of Physics at Indian Institute of Technology Madras as a professor of Physics and continued until 2016.^[6] During his tenure at Indian Institute of Technology Madras he was appointed on deputation as Professor of Physics, and Dean of Academics at Indian Institute of Technology Mandi for 2009–2010.^[1]

In 2016, Deshmukh joined Indian Institute of Technology Tirupati as Professor of Physics, and Dean of Sponsored Research and Consultancy.^[7][2] Since 2020, he has served as an adjunct professor of physics at multiple universities and as a mentor and convener for Center of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Sciences and Technologies (a joint initiative between Indian Institute of Technology Tirupati and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Tirupati).^[8]

Services

• Visiting Professor, Georgia State University, Atlanta (since 1985)
• Visiting Scientist, International Center of Theoretical Physics, Triste, Italy (1988)
• Visiting Scientist, Georgia State University, Atlanta (1991–92)
• Visiting Professor, University of Aarhus, Aarhus (1991)^[1]
• Convener, 11th National Conference of Atomic and Molecular Physics of the Indian Society for Atomic and Molecular Physics (December, 1996)
• Secretary, Indian Society for Atomic and Molecular Physics (2001-2003)
• Senior Research Associate, International Center of Theoretical Physics, Triste, Italy (2002-2009)
• Vice President, Indian Society for Atomic and Molecular Physics (2003-2004)
• Member, International Advisory Committee, Asian International Seminar on Atomic and Molecular Physics (2004-2007, 2011–2016)
• President, Indian Society for Atomic and Molecular Physics (2005-2006)
• Converner, 7th Asian International Seminar of Atomic and Molecular Physics (4–7 December 2006)^[9]
• Head, Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras (2006-2009) ^[6]
• Head, School of Basic Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi (2009-2010)^[1]
• Dean, Academics, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi (2009-2010)^[1]
• Visiting Professor, The Western University of London, Ontario, Canada (2011)^[1]
• Western Fellow, The Western University of London, Ontario, Canada (2013, 2014)^[1]
• Member, General Committee, International Conference on Photonic, Electronic, and Atomic Collisions (2015)
• Visiting/Adjuct Professor, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Tirupati (2015-2018)^[10]
• Dean, Sponsored Research and Consultancy, Indian Institute of Technology Tirupati (2016-2020)^[1]
• Convener, 7th Topical Conference of the Indian Society for Atomic and Molecular Physics (6–8 January 2018)^[11]
• Convener, AAMOS20 - Advances in Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Sciences 2020 (14–18 December 2020)^[12]
• Member, Board of Editors, Institute of Physics Journal - Physica Scripta^[13]
• Mentor and Convener, CAMOST, a joint initiative of Indian Institute of Technology Tirupati and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Tirupati (since 2020)

Publications

References