A life devoted to science (1928-2016)
Mambilikalathil Govind Kumar Menon who passed away recently in New Delhi at the age of 88, was one of India’s most celebrated physicists, who also made an invaluable contribution to the growth and development of science and technology in the country for a period of over five decades. He also distinguished himself as one of the country’s top policy makers. Menon who had his early education in Jodhpur and the Royal Institute of Science, Bombay, later did his PhD at the University of Bristol where he was mentored by Nobel Laureate Cecil F. Powell, the subject of his thesis being Particle Physics. His sphere of research centred around his experiments with cosmic rays and in exploring the properties of fundamental particles. He was also actively involved in setting up balloon flight experiments as well as deep underground experiments with cosmic ray neutrinos in the Kolar Gold Mines in Karnataka.
He joined the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) when it was headed by its Founder, the eminent scientist Homi J. Bhabha in the year 1955, and served the institute in various capacities for five decades. The sudden death of Dr. Bhabha in an air crash in 1966 saw Menon taking over the reins of the institute at the age of 37. He was fortunate to have the guidance of Dr. Bhabha during his formative years, and was also given a free hand in running the institute by J.R.D. Tata. At TIFR he nurtured the careers of hundreds of budding scientists, and also pursued his varied interests in scientific research.
M.G.K. Menon was a blue-eyed boy of the late Prime Minister (PM) Indira Gandhi who entrusted him with numerous responsibilities, and he acquitted himself well in all of them, vindicating the confidence that she placed in him. He also served as Scientific Advisor to PM Rajiv Gandhi from 1986-89, and was a nominated member of the House of Elders, the Rajya Sabha, from 1990-1996. Menon was appointed as a Minister of State for Science & Technology by Prime Minister V.P. Singh, albeit for a short period, as the government did not last long. Apart from being a Director of TIFR from 1966-1975, Menon during his long career also served as Chairman of ISRO in 1972, and as a Member of the Planning Commission (1982-89). Among the other posts that he held was the President of the Indian Statistical Institute, President of the National Academy of Sciences, India, Vice-President, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), and was also the Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT (Indian Institute of Technology), Bombay and Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad. Several awards and honours also came the way of the physicist and these included among others, the presitigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, the Abdul Salam Medal, the Padma Shri, the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Vibhushan from the Government of India. He was also selected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1970 and was also a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. His contribution to the campaign for protection of the fragile ecosystem in the Silent Valley in Kerala also won him a host of admirers.
Although his forte was physics and research, Menon wore several hats during his long and eventful life, and was at different points of time a scholar, an electronics expert and was also adept at handling issues related to space and defence. His stint in Parliament and in the Ministry of Science and Technology too showcased his keen interest in the nation’s development and in ushering in an era of scientific growth in the country. Above all, he was recognised as a humanist and a trainer par excellence. Menon would always recount his meeting with the Nobel Laureate Sir C.V. Raman when still in his teens and had been greatly influenced by him. He had resolved that science would be his calling in life, and his passion for science took wings and turned him into one of the country’s greatest scientific minds.