AlmedaCheyne at 23:37, 7 February 2026

2026-02-07T23:37:04Z

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{{Short description|Indian academic}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Kiran Seth
| image = Kiran Seth, Founder of Spic Macay.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Seth in March 2014
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1949|04|27}}
| death_date = 
| death_place =
| other_names =
| known_for = [[SPIC MACAY]]
| mother = Bhagawathi Seth
| father = [[Bhoj Raj Seth]]
| occupation = Professor Emeritus
| education = BTech (1970)<br>[[IIT Kharagpur]], PhD (1974)<br>[[Columbia University]]
| alma_mater = [[IIT Kharagpur]], [[Columbia University]]
| employer = [[IIT Delhi]]
| years_active =
}}

'''Kiran Seth''' (born 1949) is Ex Professor and Professor Emeritus at [[Indian Institute of Technology Delhi]] who has done teaching and research in the field of Operations Research there since 1976. He is most known as the founder of [[SPIC MACAY]] (1977), a non-profit organisation which promotes Indian classical music, Indian classical dance, folk forms, yoga and meditation, traditional handlooms and handicrafts, cinema classics, and other aspects of Indian culture, amongst youth over the world; doing about 5000 events yearly in about 500 towns in India and about 50 abroad through conventions, baithaks, lecture demonstrations and musical fests.<ref name=min>{{cite web |last=Quraishi |first=Humra |title=Kiran Seth: Without playing a note, he makes music touch the lives of many |url=http://www.livemint.com/2007/11/27000636/Kiran-Seth--Without-playing-a.html |date=12 December 2007 |publisher=[[Mint (newspaper)|Mint]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=7 December 2003 |title=Keeping our virasat alive |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20031207/spectrum/main2.htm |work=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028062415/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20031207/spectrum/main2.htm |archive-date=28 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Kumar |first=Mala |date=30 October 2003 |title=From rap to raga |url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2003/10/30/stories/2003103000960300.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040405115855/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2003/10/30/stories/2003103000960300.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-date=5 April 2004 |newspaper=The Hindu}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=28 May 2009 |title=Discovery of India |url=http://www.hindu.com/mp/2009/05/28/stories/2009052850390100.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107180026/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2009/05/28/stories/2009052850390100.htm |url-status=dead |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |archive-date=7 November 2012 }}</ref>

In 2009, he was awarded the [[Padma Shri]] by the [[Government of India]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Datta |first=Sravasti |date=10 October 2014 |title=An artistic endeavour |url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-fridayreview/an-artistic-endeavour/article6486274.ece |newspaper=The Hindu |access-date=5 April 2015}}</ref>

== Early life and education ==
His father, Bhojraj Seth, was a mathematician and the first professor at the [[IIT Kharagpur]], established in 1951, while his mother Bhagawati Seth was a homemaker.<ref name=min/>

== Career ==
Seth started his career working as a Member of the Technical Staff (MTS) at [[Bell Laboratories]], [[New Jersey]] in 1974, a job he gave up to return to India in 1976 as an Assistant Professor to teach at [[IIT Delhi]], where he has worked ever since. It was at IIT Delhi that he founded SPIC MACAY in 1977.<ref>{{cite news |title=Young converts to Indian classics |url= https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3778005.stm |date=4 June 2004 |publisher=[[BBC News]] |first=Jayshree |last=Bajoria}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Ramchandra Guha |author-link=Ramchandra Guha |date=5 December 2004 |title=The education of a Philistine:SPIC MACAY |url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mag/2004/12/05/stories/2004120500380300.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050408031639/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mag/2004/12/05/stories/2004120500380300.htm |url-status=dead |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |archive-date=8 April 2005 }}</ref>

He served as Vice-Chairman of the Governing Council of the [[Film and Television Institute of India]] (FTII) in Pune from 2012 to 2014.<ref>URL=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Mirza-aims-at-centre-of-excellence-status-for-FTII/articleshow/8094611.cms</ref>

== SPIC MACAY ==

Today the movement conducts concerts, lec-dems, talks, yoga workshops, classic film shows, theatre shows and craft workshops in schools and colleges so that young people might be inspired.<ref>{{cite news |last=Kumar |first=Ranee |title=Catch 'em young: Kiran Seth, the founder of Spicmacay, has a focused agenda of shaping young minds |url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2003/10/23/stories/2003102301110200.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040413231509/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2003/10/23/stories/2003102301110200.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 April 2004 |date=23 October 2003 |newspaper=[[The Hindu]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Chaudhuri |first=Shatarupa |date=5 March 2010 |title=Stay connected with culture |url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/article254842.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418091651/http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/article254842.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 April 2015 |newspaper=The New Indian Express}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090820190952/http://web.iitd.ac.in/~me/faculty/kiranseth.html Kiran Seth] at [[IIT Delhi]]
* [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/Many-great-civilizations-are-alive-only-in-museums/articleshow/48725368.cms "Many great civilizations are alive only in museums"]

{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Art}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seth, Kiran}}
[[Category:1949 births]]
[[Category:IIT Kharagpur alumni]]
[[Category:Columbia University alumni]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Academic staff of IIT Delhi]]
[[Category:People from Kharagpur]]

Kiran Seth - Revision history

AlmedaCheyne at 23:37, 7 February 2026