Raman Research Institute Directorship for Ravi Subrahmanyan

Quietly and unassumingly in early 2005 Ravi Subrahmanyan of the Narrabri Observatory started to make public that he had accepted the very prestigious position of Director of the Raman Research Institute in Bangalore, India. The Raman Institute is a government-funded research organisation of some 300 staff devoted to the study of fundamental sciences. Particular areas of interest include astronomy and astrophysics, soft condensed matter, physics of biological systems, theoretical physics and optics. The institute was founded in 1948 from private funding provided to the Nobel laureate Sir C. V. Raman. Prof Subrahmanyan expects to move to Bangalore and take on the full roles of the Directorship in late March.

During a postdoctoral position during 1990-1992 and then again over the last eight years, the contributions to the ATNF and CSIRO by Prof Subrahmanyan and his wife Dr Lakshmi Saripalli have been deep and far reaching. Ravi's work included studies of the early universe (Cosmic Microwave Background and Epoch of Reionisation), radio galaxies, antenna optics and the groundwork and commissioning of the MNRF millimetre systems. Lakshmi's science focused on radio galaxies, both in the radio and optical, whereas her other contributions include being ATNF Newsletter Editor and working for CSIRO Global Development. Both have mentored a number of students. Their contributions to the ATNF will be missed.

Bob Sault
Officer-in-Charge, Narrabri Observatory
(Bob.Sault@csiro.au)