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{{Short description|Indian chemical physicist (1937–2021)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2018}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Chunni Lal Khetrapal
| image =
| alt =
| caption = Son name = Subhash Khetrapal and Munish Khetrapal
Grand child's name = Meghna Khetrapal, Mehul Khetrapal and Meona Khetrapal
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1937|8|25}}
| birth_place = [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[British Raj]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2021|7|21|1937|8|25}}
| death_place =
| fields = {{ublist | [[Chemical physics]] | [[Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy]] }}
| workplaces = {{ublist | | [[National Institutes of Health]] | [[Raman Research Institute]] | [[Indian Institute of Science]] | [[Allahabad University]] | [[Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences]] | Centre of Biomedical Magnetic Resonance }}
| alma_mater = {{ublist | | [[Allahabad University]] | Atomic Energy Establishment Training School | [[Tata Institute of Fundamental Research]] | [[Bombay University]] | [[University of Basel]] | [[Kent State University]] }}
| doctoral_advisor =
| doctoral_students =
| known_for = Studies on Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy
| awards = {{ublist | 1982 [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize]] | 1996 [[University Grants Commission (India)|UGC]] C. V. Raman Award | 1998 Goyal Prize | 1996 Goyal Prize | 2002 [[Indian Science Congress Association|ISCA]] P. C. Ray Memorial Medal | 2005 [[Indian Chemical Society|ICS]] Lifetime Achievement Award }}
}}

'''Chunni Lal Khetrapal''' (25 August 1937 – 21 July 2021) was an Indian chemical physicist and a vice chancellor of the [[Allahabad University]].<ref name="Former vice chancellors">{{Cite web |url=http://allduniv.ac.in/home/pages/136 |title=Former vice chancellors |date=2016 |publisher=Allahabad University}}</ref> He was known for his studies in chemical physics, particularly in the field of [[Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy]].<ref name="Brief Profile of the Awardee">{{Cite web |url=http://ssbprize.gov.in/Content/Detail.aspx?AID=157 |title=Brief Profile of the Awardee |date=2016 |publisher=Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize |access-date=12 November 2016}}</ref> He was an elected fellow of the [[Indian National Science Academy]]<ref name="Indian fellow">{{Cite web |url=http://insaindia.res.in/detail.php?id=N87-0956 |title=Indian fellow |date=2016 |publisher=Indian National Science Academy |access-date=19 November 2016 |archive-date=6 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210306024140/https://www.insaindia.res.in/detail.php?id=N87-0956 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the [[National Academy of Sciences, India]].<ref name="NASI fellows">{{Cite web |url=http://www.nasi.org.in/fellows.asp?RsFilter=K |title=NASI fellows |date=2016 |publisher=National Academy of Sciences, India |access-date=12 November 2016 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315081652/http://nasi.org.in/fellows.asp?RsFilter=K |archivedate=15 March 2016 }}</ref> The [[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]], the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology]], one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1982, for his contributions to chemical sciences.<ref name="View Bhatnagar Awardees">{{cite web | url=http://ssbprize.gov.in/Content/AwardeeList.aspx | title=View Bhatnagar Awardees | publisher=Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize | date=2016 | accessdate=12 November 2016}}</ref>

== Biography ==
[[File:Aerial View of Senate Hall, University of Allahabad.png|thumb|235px|University of Allahabad]]
C. L. Khetrapal, born on 25 August 1937 in the Indian state of [[Uttar Pradesh]], did his college studies at the [[Allahabad University]] from where he graduated in 1957 and completed his master's degree in 1959.<ref name="Director profile">{{Cite web |url=http://cbmr.res.in/wp-content/themes/twentythirteen/CV/CV_Prof_Khetrapal.pdf |title=Director profile |date=2016 |publisher=Centre of Biomedical Magnetic Resonance}}</ref> He started his career by joining the Atomic Energy Establishment Training School, Mumbai the same year, simultaneously doing his doctoral research at [[Mumbai University]] to secure a PhD in 1965. In between, he worked at the [[Tata Institute of Fundamental Research]] under [[Shrinivasa Shridhar Dharmatti|S. S. Dharmatti]] for a while and moved to Switzerland where he did his post-doctoral studies at the [[University of Basel]] from 1967 till 1969. Then he shifted his base to the US to work at the Liquid Crystal Institute of [[Kent State University]] as a research assistant. He returned to India in 1973 and joined the [[Raman Research Institute]] as an assistant professor where he spent over eleven years till his move to the [[Indian Institute of Science]] as a professor and the head of the ''Sophisticated Instruments Facility'' in 1984. On his superannuation from service in 1998, he was appointed the vice chancellor of the [[Allahabad University]].<ref name="Former vice chancellors" /> When his tenure ended in 2001, he joined the [[Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences]] as a distinguished professor for a five-year term (2001–06) and also held the directorship of Centre of Biomedical Magnetic Resonance, Lucknow, an autonomous research centre of the Government of Uttar Pradesh. In between, he had two stints at the [[National Institutes of Health]] as a visiting scientist during 1979–80 and in 1984.<ref name="Indian fellow" />

== Legacy ==
Using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), Khetrapal studied the molecular orientation in the [[nematic phase]] of liquid crystals, the [[Nonplanar|non-planar]] distortions in [[peptide]]s in the liquid phase and weak molecular interactions involved in [[hydrogen bonding]].<ref name="Handbook of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Winners">{{cite web | url=http://www.csirhrdg.res.in/ssb.pdf | title=Handbook of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Winners | publisher=Council of Scientific and Industrial Research | date=1999 | accessdate=5 October 2016 | pages=34 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304043957/http://www.csirhrdg.res.in/ssb.pdf | archive-date=4 March 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Apart from pioneering NMR studies in India, he established the ''Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies'' and the ''Institute of Professional Studies'' at Allahabad University.<ref name="Indian fellow" /> His contributions are also reported to be behind the establishment of the National Centre on NMR in Bangalore. He has published a number of articles and books, besides contributing chapters to books published by others including the 8-volume ''Encyclopedia of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance''.<ref name="Encyclopedia of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance">{{Cite book |url=https://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Nuclear-Magnetic-Resonance-Set/dp/B00456S4BM |title=Encyclopedia of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance |date=1996 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0471938712 |editor=Robin K. , Grant |editor2=D.M. Harris}}</ref> He was one of the founders of the National Magnetic Resonance Society and the Centre of Biomedical Magnetic Resonance and served as the first president of the former and was an incumbent director of the latter.<ref name="Indian fellow" />

== Awards and honors ==
The [[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]] awarded Deb the [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize]], one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1982.<ref name="Chemical Sciences">{{cite web | url=http://www.csir.res.in/External/Heads/career/award/BPRIZE/CHEMICAL_SCIENCES.htm | title=Chemical Sciences | publisher=Council of Scientific and Industrial Research | date=2016 | accessdate=7 November 2016 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120912012851/http://www.csir.res.in/external/heads/career/award/BPRIZE/CHEMICAL_SCIENCES.htm | archivedate=12 September 2012 }}</ref> He is also a recipient of the C. V. Raman Award of the [[University Grants Commission of India]] (1996), Goyal Prize (1996), [[Prafulla Chandra Ray|P. C. Ray]] Memorial Medal of the [[Indian Science Congress Association]] (2002) and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the [[Indian Chemical Society]] (2005).<ref name="Indian fellow" /> He has delivered several award orations including the R. K. Asundi Memorial Lecture Award of the Indian National Science Academy in 1990<ref name="R. K. Asundi Memorial Lecture Award">{{Cite web |url=http://insaindia.res.in/recipients.php#rango |title=R. K. Asundi Memorial Lecture Award |date=2016 |publisher=Indian National Science Academy |access-date=19 November 2016 |archive-date=16 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916233840/http://insaindia.res.in/recipients.php#rango |url-status=dead }}</ref> and N. R. Dhar Memorial Lecture Award of National Academy of Sciences, India in 2005.<ref name="N. R. Dhar Memorial Lecture Award">{{Cite web |url=http://www.nasi.org.in/leca.htm |title=N. R. Dhar Memorial Lecture Award |date=2016 |publisher=National Academy of Sciences, India |access-date=19 November 2016 |archive-date=13 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150413015954/http://www.nasi.org.in/leca.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> He was an elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy and the National Academy of Sciences, India.<ref name="NASI fellows" />

== See also ==
* [[Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy]]
{{portal|India|Chemistry}}

== References ==
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{{SSBPST recipients in Chemical Science}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khetrapal, Chunni Lal}}
[[Category:Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Chemical Science]]
[[Category:1937 births]]
[[Category:2021 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian chemists]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy]]
[[Category:Scientists from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Heads of universities and colleges in India]]
[[Category:University of Allahabad alumni]]
[[Category:University of Mumbai alumni]]
[[Category:University of Basel alumni]]
[[Category:Kent State University alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the Indian Institute of Science]]

Chunni Lal Khetrapal - Revision history

Digitalvivek at 18:31, 11 March 2026