Chinmoyin at 14:03, 16 January 2026

2026-01-16T14:03:16Z

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{{Short description|Indian physicist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox scientist
|name = Ajit Ram Verma
|image =
|birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1921|09|20}}
|birth_place = [[Dalmau]], [[India]]
|death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2009|03|04|1921|09|20}}
|death_place =
|field = [[Physics]]
|education = [[Allahabad University]] (BSc, MSc)<br>[[University of London]] (PhD)
|work_institution = [[Delhi University]]<br>[[Banaras Hindu University|BHU]]<br>[[National Physical Laboratory of India]]
|doctoral_advisor = [[Samuel Tolansky]]
|academic_advisors= [[Kathleen Lonsdale]]
|doctoral_students= [[Onkar Nath Srivastava]]
|known_for = [[Crystallography]]
|prizes = [[Padma Bhushan]]<br>[[Bhatnagar Award]]
|religion =
|footnotes =
}}
'''Ajit Ram Verma''' (1921–2009) was an Indian physicist. For his work in [[crystallography]], he was awarded the [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize]] in 1964. He was director of the [[National Physical Laboratory of India|National Physical Laboratory]] (NPL) for almost seventeen years (1965–1982).<ref>{{cite web|title=NPL Directors {{!}} National Physical Laboratory|url=http://www.nplindia.org/npl-directors|access-date=24 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Handbook of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar prize winners ( 1958 - 1998 of)|url=http://csirhrdg.res.in/ssb.pdf|work=Dr Sukumar Mallick, Dr Saguna Dewan, Mr S C Dhawan|access-date=24 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721181119/http://csirhrdg.res.in/ssb.pdf|archive-date=21 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1982, the [[Padma Bhushan]], India's third highest civilian award, was conferred on him by the President of India.<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web|url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |title=Padma Awards |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India |date=2015 |access-date=21 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |archive-date=15 October 2015 }}</ref>

==Early life==
Ajit Ram Verma was born on 20 September 1921 at Dalmau near [[Lucknow]] to Hans Raj Verma, a railway official, and Devi Rani.
After early education at several places including Allahabad and Meerut, he enrolled in [[Allahabad University]], where he took his BSc (1940) and MSc (1942) degrees.<ref name=klaltribute>{{cite web|last=Lal|first=Krishan|title=Professor Ajit Ram Verma: A Tribute A Great Scientist, a Teacher Par Excellence, an Able Administrator, and a Wonderful Person|url=http://www.csir.res.in/External/Heads/aboutcsir/announcements/Prof_Ajit.pdf|access-date=24 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808042919/http://www.csir.res.in/External/Heads/aboutcsir/announcements/Prof_Ajit.pdf|archive-date=8 August 2014|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

==Career==
Verma taught briefly at [[Delhi University]] before moving to the [[University of London]], where he earned his PhD working on unimolecular growth spirals on the surfaces of crystals. On his return to India, he served as reader in physics at [[Delhi University]] for four years (1955-1959). In 1959 he moved to [[Banaras Hindu University|BHU]], [[Varanasi]], as professor and head of department. In 1965, he was appointed as director, NPL where he remained until 1982, making him the longest-serving director of NPL. Subsequently, for three years, he served as visiting professor at [[IIT Delhi]]. Later, he was emeritus scientist of [[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research|CSIR]] and [[INSA]] senior scientist at NPL.<ref name=klaltribute />

==Scientific contributions==
Verma's early work on spiral growth of crystals has been featured on the ''Nature''physics portal under the "looking back" section.<ref name=naturepp>{{cite web|title=Spiral growth of crystals|url=http://www.nature.com/physics/looking-back/verma/index.html|access-date=23 September 2013}}</ref>

==Society for Scientific Values==
Verma was one of the founding members of the Society for Scientific Values (SSV), a voluntary body set up to emphasise "the need to promote integrity, objectivity and ethical values in the pursuit of science". The first meeting of SSV was held in June 1984, and it was formally registered as a Society under the Societies Registration Act (1860) on 18 August 1986. P. N. Tiwari, the founder Secretary of SSV, writes, "Dr. Verma, not only expressed his clear and certain views about the ethical and spiritual values that one has to have for doing genuine and good science but he also expressed his equally certain, frank and strong views about the kind of action that should be taken against a scientist who is found guilty of misconduct in research and publication."<ref name=tiwari>{{cite web|last=Tiwari|first=P. N.|title=Role of Dr. A. R. Verma in Formation and Working of SSV|url=http://www.scientificvalues.org/Sept09%20Final%2004-02-2010.pdf|access-date=14 May 2013}}</ref>

==Awards and honours==
* [[Padma Bhushan]], Government of India, 1982<ref name="Padma Awards" />
* [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize]], 1964
* [[Atmaram Award]], 1994<ref>{{cite web |title=List of Awardees |url=http://khsindia.org/india/en/awards/award-categories/atmaram-award.html |website=Khsindia |access-date=26 January 2019 |archive-date=30 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160730003423/http://khsindia.org/india/en/awards/award-categories/atmaram-award.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Fellow, [[Indian Academy of Sciences]], Bangalore
* Fellow, [[Indian National Science Academy]], New Delhi<ref>{{cite web|title=Deceased Fellow |url=https://insaindia.res.in/detail/N63-0872|website=INSA |access-date=31 July 2017 }}</ref>
* Fellow, National Academy of Sciences of India, Allahabad
* Member, Board of Editors – Solid State Communications, Pergamon Press
* Elected member of [[International Committee for Weights and Measures]] (CIPM), Paris 1966-1982

==Books authored by Ajit Ram Verma==
* ''Crystal growth and dislocations'' by Ajit Ram Verma, Butterworth's Scientific Publications, 1953, 182 pp.
* ''Polymorphism and polytypism in crystals'' by Ajit Ram Verma and Padmanabhan Krishna, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1966, 341 pp. {{ISBN|0-471-90643-3}}
* ''Crystallography for solid state physics'' by Ajit Ram Verma and [[Onkar Nath Srivastava]], Wiley Eastern Ltd., New Delhi, 1982, 348 pp. {{ISBN|978-0-85226-890-2}}
* ''Crystallography applied to Solid State Physics'', by Ajit Ram Verma and Onkar Nath Srivastava, New Age International, New Delhi, 1991, 464 pp.
* ''Concept of truth in science and religion'' by K. D. Gangrade, L. S. Kothari and A. R. Verma, Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi, 2005. {{ISBN|978-81-8069-190-4}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 1980–89}}
{{SSBPST recipients in Physical Science}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Verma, Ajit Ram}}
[[Category:1921 births]]
[[Category:2009 deaths]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in science & engineering]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian physicists]]
[[Category:People from Lucknow district]]
[[Category:Scientists from Lucknow]]
[[Category:Indian expatriates in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of London]]
[[Category:University of Allahabad alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Delhi University]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Banaras Hindu University]]

Ajit Ram Verma - Revision history

Chinmoyin at 14:03, 16 January 2026