President, Indian National Science Academy

Member, IAC Board

Born on 15th March 1941 at Chiniot, now in Pakistan, passed M.Sc. (Physics) in 1961 (Agra University, Agra) standing IInd in order of merit. He obtained Ph.D. from University of Delhi, Delhi (1969) in Solid State Physics. His specializations include: Solid State Physics; Materials Characterization; Crystal Growth & Lattice Imperfections, High Resolution X-ray Diffraction, Instrumentation; Quality Management, Certified Reference Materials and Data for Materials.

Dr. Lal started his career as Lecturer in Physics (1961-62); served as S.S.A. SSPL (DRDO)- 1962-63 and joined National Physical Lab. as Post Doc Fellow in Dec 1963 and Scientist B in Feb 1966 and rose to be Director Grade Scientist in 1990. Served as Director, NPL during 2000-2003 and was granted Extension in service till the age of 64 rears (2005). 

Dr. Krishan Lal has made significant contributions in research and development, scientific leadership, and developing international collaboration. Dr. Lal’s research work on lattice imperfections in crystals, X-ray diffraction physics, and crystal growth has led to deeper understanding of the nature of real materials and their interaction with radiation and external fields.    

Significant recognitions include: (i) President, Indian National Science Academy (INSA), New Delhi; (ii) Honorary Doctorate, Russian Academy of Sciences, 1998; (iii) Fellow, National Academy of Sciences' India, Allahabad; (iv) President, CODATA, 2006-2010, (v) Editor, Zeitschrift für Kristallographie –1996-2003; (vi) Prof. S. K. Mitra Birth Centenary Gold Medal of Indian Science Congress Association, Jan 2007; (vii) The Daulat Singh Kothari Memorial Lecture of INSA, 1996; (viii) Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Visiting Fellowship of INSA, 2010; and (ix) Vice President, Asia-Pacific Academy of Materials, 2009-.

 He was IBM India Fellow at Watson Research Centre, New York; Visiting Professor, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Technical University Darmstadt, Darmstadt and Sr. Visiting Scientist at Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig. Honorary Professor, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur and was Visiting Professor IIT Delhi and Jamia Millia Islamia and Adjunct Professor, IIT Kharagpur.

 Dr Krishan Lal has: edited 9 Books/Volumes, published 22 Invited Papers in journals / Chapters in Books, more than 100 research papers in refereed journals and 7 patents to his credit.