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{{Family name hatnote|Kotcherlakota|lang=Telugu}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=June 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2018}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Prof. Kotcherlakota Rangadhama Rao
| image = Kotcherlakota Rangadhama Rao.jpg
| image_size = 180px
| alt = Prof. Kotcherlakota Rangadhama Rao
| caption = Portrait of Prof. K. Rangadhama Rao, approx. 1920.
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1898|09|09|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Vizianagaram]], [[Andhra Pradesh]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1972|06|20|1898|09|09|df=y}}
| death_place = Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India
| citizenship = Indian
| field = [[Physics]], [[Spectroscopy]]
| alma_mater = [[Andhra University]], Visakhapatnam
| workplaces = [[Sri Venkateswara University]], [[Tirupati (city)|Tirupathi]],<br>[[University of Madras]], [[Tamil Nadu]],<br>[[London University]],<br>[[Berlin]] and [[Sweden]]
| doctoral_advisor = [[A.Fowler|Prof. A. Fowler]]
| doctoral_students=
| notable_students =
| known_for = [[Spectroscopy]], [[NQR|Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance]]
| prizes =
| signature = 
| signature_alt =
}}

'''Prof. Kotcherlakota Rangadhama Rao''' (9 September 1898 – 20 June 1972) was an Indian [[physicist]] in the field of [[Spectroscopy]].

Rangadhama Rao is best known for his work on spectroscopy, his role in the development of [[Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance]] ([[NQR]]), and his long association with the physics laboratories of [[Andhra University]]. In his later years, he became known for his position as the Principal of all the colleges of Andhra University before their divisions into separate colleges, viz., [[Andhra University College of Arts and Commerce|AU College of Arts and Commerce]], [[Andhra University College of Engineering|AU College of Engineering]], [[Andhra University College of Law|AU College of Law]], [[Andhra University College of Pharmaceutical Sciences|AU College of Pharmacy]] and [[Andhra University College of Science and Technology|AU College of Science and Technology]].

Rangadhama Rao was known both for his scientific ability and his interpersonal relations and volatile personality

==Early years==
Kotcherlakota Rangadhama Rao was born in [[Vizianagaram]], a coastal town in present-day Vizianagaram district of state of [[Andhra Pradesh]], India, on 9 September 1898. His father, Kotcherlakota Venkata Narsing Rao was the [[postmaster]] of the present-day cities of [[Vizianagaram]], [[Gajapathinagaram]] and [[Visakhapatnam]], then small cities in the state of Andhra Pradesh in the [[Madras Presidency]] of [[British Raj|British India]]. His mother, Ramayamma, died in 1923.

Kotcherlakota Rangadhama Rao had an [[arranged marriage]] to Vaddadi Perramma, as was the custom in the region. On 6 December 1925, when Rangadhama Rao was 27, the couple's first child, Ramakrishna Rao, was born. Rangadhama Rao and Vaddadi Perramma had seven more children, four sons and three daughters: Venkata Rao (5 February 1928); Venkata Narsing Rao (27 June 1933); Ramaleela (24 April 1938); Lakshmi Narayana (23 July 1940); Lalitha Kumari (31 July 1941); Amarnath (8 June 1944); and Vijaya Vani (19 September 1945).

==Education==
His elementary education was at [[Maharaja's High School]], Vizianagaram for the 3rd, 4th and 5th grades during 1904 and 1906. He joined in different schools each year in his early education. He was shifted to [[London Mission High School]], Vizianagaram, for the 6th grade and studied 7th and 8th grades in Hindu High School at [[Machilipatnam]]. He passed his 10th grade ([[SSLC]]) in C.B.M. High School at Visakhapatnam and 12th grade ([[Pre-University Course|Intermediate]]), from [[Mrs. A.V.N. College]] at Visakhapatnam.

Prof. K. Rangadhama Rao was in the first batch of students for the [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] degree course in 1920 (there was no [[Bachelor of Science|B.Sc.]] degree course at that time in Madras University) in the [[Maharajah's College]] in Vizianagaram. The B.A Degree course was initiated by [[A. L. Narayan|Dr. Appadvedula Lakshmi Narayan]] in 1918.<ref name=ALN>Biographical Memoirs, Appadvedula Lakshmi Narayan</ref>

Prof. K.R.Rao took his [[Master of Arts|M.A.]] in Physics from [[Tiruchirappalli]] in 1923. His research career started in 1923 when he enrolled as a Research Scholar for [[D.Sc.]] ([[Doctor of Science]]) from [[Madras University]]. He was awarded the D.Sc. Degree from Madras University and was selected for studies abroad from the Andhra University in 1928. This was a turning point in his quest for knowledge and research of his lifetime.

==Career==
In 1924, Dr. K. Rangadhama Rao joined Dr. A.L.Narayan as a research scholar in University of Madras. Both of them worked tenaciously to build up a first rate spectroscopic laboratory second to none in the country. They had then with them a constant deviation spectrograph, a small quartz spectrograph and a medium quartz spectrograph. All these were of low dispersion and low resolving power. At this stage of their work, they required an instrument of high dispersion and high resolving power, which they could not afford. So, K.R.Rao went to Calcutta, where a ten-foot concave grating was available in the [[Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science]] of which [[C. V. Raman]] was Director and with the facilities provided there, they further extended their work on analysis of spectra in the visible and ultraviolet regions.<ref name=ALN/>

He was guided in his research career by Prof. A.Fowler at the [[Imperial College of Science and Technology]], [[London]] in 1930 in [[Atomic Spectra]] for two years for which he was awarded the D.Sc. Degree from [[London University]]. In 1930, he had the opportunity of working under [[Friedrich Paschen|Prof. F.Paschen]] at the [[Physikalische Technische Reichsanstalt]] in [[Berlin]] for six months and under [[Manne Siegbahn|Prof. Manne Siegbahn]] in [[Uppsala|Upsala]], [[Sweden]] on [[Vacuum Spectroscopy]] for another six months. His interest in the field of Spectroscopy was so much that he built a Vacuum Spectrograph of his design with his own expenses at [[Potsdam]], [[Germany]].

Prof. K.R.Rao's contribution towards physics has placed him in a high position even in his times. His contributions include development of Diatomic and Polyatomic Molecular Spectroscopy laboratory dealing with High Resolution Vibrational structure in electronic transitions, [[U.V.Absorption]], [[Infrared Absorption]], [[Raman scattering]], [[Fluorescence]] and [[Phosphorescence]] and [[Crystal Spectra]]. He also reached the level of construction of microwave test benches and using these techniques he created different lines of investigations in [[dielectrics]]. He contributed to the development of [[Radio Frequency]] Spectroscopy which branched into [[Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance]] (NQR), [[Nuclear Magnetic Resonance]] (NMR) and [[Electron Spin Resonance]] (ESR) spectroscopy. In India, work on NQR was first initiated by Prof. K. Rangadhama Rao in the Physics laboratories of Andhra University.

Kotcherlakota Rangdhama Rao was the Principal of Andhra University Colleges from 1949 to 1957. He was appointed as [[Emeritus Professor]] of Physics at Andhra University (1966–72) and was special officer for the establishment of [[Sri Venkateswara University]], [[Tirupati (city)|Tirupathi]] (1954).

==Contributions==
During his early life of work in the Physics department of Andhra University, Prof. K.R.Rao, established scholarships in his father's name, Kotcherlakota Venkata Narsinga Rao.

===Kotcherlakota Venkata Narsinga Rao Scholarship===

While a [[Reader (academic rank)|Reader]] in the Physics Department of [[Jeypore Vikram Deo]] College of Science and Technology, Rao instituted a Research Scholarship in memory of his late father.<ref name=annualreg>Annual Register of Andhra University</ref>

==Honours, distinctions and awards==
Prof. Rangadhama Rao was one of the foundation members for the AP Akademi of Sciences, nominated by the Government of Andhra Pradesh in 1963.<ref name=APAS>AP Akademi of Science</ref> The Indian National Science Academy frequently conducts a Memorial Lecture Award in the honour of Prof. Kotcherlakota Rangadhama Rao since its inception in 1979.<ref name=insa>Indian National Science Academy</ref>

===Prof Rangadhama Rao Memorial Lecture Award===

Prof. Kotcherlakota Rangadhama Rao Memorial Lecture Award is given for the outstanding contributions in the subject of Spectroscopy in Physics. The award was established by the National Institute of Sciences of India, located in Calcutta in 1979.

[[Awardees of Prof. Rangadhama Rao Memorial Lectures|List of Awardees]]

==Publications==
Prof. K.R.Rao's research works were published in various reputed National and International Journals. Some of his initial publications are given below

* On the spectra of the metals of the aluminium sub-group, Proceedings of the Physical Society of London, Volume 37, Issue 1, pp. 259–264 (1924), {{doi|10.1088/1478-7814/37/1/332}}
* A Note on the Absorption of the Green Line of Thallium Vapour, Proc. R. Soc. Lond. 1 April 1925 107:762-765; {{doi|10.1098/rspa.1925.0055}}
* On the Fluorescence and Channelled Absorption of Bismuth at High Temperatures, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Containing Papers of a Mathematical and Physical Character, Vol. 107, No. 744 (1 April 1925), pp. 760–762.
* On the Resonance Radiation from Thallium Vapour, ''Nature'' 115, 534-534, (11 April 1925) | {{doi|10.1038/115534d0}}
* Proc. Indian natn. Sci. Acad., 46, A, No 5, 1980, pp. 423–434

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
*ALN Biography - [http://prints.iiap.res.in/bitstream/2248/1709/1/A.L.N.pdf Biographies of Indian Institute of Astrophysics]
*INSA Awards - [https://archive.today/20130415041129/http://www.insaindia.org/aa3.htm#el Indian National Science Academy Awards]
*Founding Members - [https://web.archive.org/web/20090619070812/http://apas.ap.nic.in/fm.html Andhra Pradesh Akademi of Science Founding Members]
*[https://archive.org/stream/annualregister19030659mbp/annualregister19030659mbp_djvu.txt Andhra University Annual Register]
*[http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/1478-7814/37/1/332 Proceedings of the Physical Society of London, Volume 37, Issue 1, pp. 259-264 (1924)], {{doi|10.1088/1478-7814/37/1/332}}
*[http://rspa.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/107/744/762.citation Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 1 April 1925 107:762-765]; {{doi|10.1098/rspa.1925.0055}}
*[https://www.jstor.org/pss/94422 Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Containing Papers of a Mathematical and Physical Character, Vol. 107, No. 744 (1 April 1925), pp. 760-762.]
*[http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v115/n2893/abs/115534d0.html Nature 115, 534-534]
*[http://www.ias.ac.in/j_archive/currsci/58/18/1055-1056/viewpage.html Indian Academy of Science Awards, Current Science Journal, 1989, Vol.58, No.18]
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20171201110155/http://insa.nic.in/writereaddata/UpLoadedFiles/PINSA/Vol46A_1980_5_Art01.pdf Dr. K. Rangadhama Rao Memorial Lecture by RK Asundi - 1979]
*[https://insa.nic.in/writereaddata/UpLoadedFiles/PINSA/Vol56A_1990_5_Art01.pdf Dr. K. Rangadhama Rao Memorial Lecture by Mihir Chowdhury - 1989]
*[https://insa.nic.in/writereaddata/UpLoadedFiles/PINSA/Vol69A_1993_6_Art02.pdf Dr. K. Rangadhama Rao Memorial Lecture by VB Kartha - 1991]

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rangadhama Rao, Kotcherlakota}}
[[Category:1898 births]]
[[Category:1972 deaths]]
[[Category:Andhra University alumni]]
[[Category:Experimental physicists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian physicists]]
[[Category:Scientists from Visakhapatnam]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy]]
[[Category:Telugu people]]

Kotcherlakota Rangadhama Rao - Revision history

Kristie5701 at 23:40, 7 February 2026