A proud moment for the institute, IITGN Director Prof Sudhir K Jain has been conferred with the prestigious Padma Shri this year for distinguished service in the field of science and engineering.

Dr Jain, who is currently serving his third term as director of IITGN, is the institute’s founding director and took charge in June 2009. He describes this achievement as “a collective recognition of the entire community’s efforts, sacrifices and hard work”.

Dr Jain is an internationally reputed scholar of earthquake engineering and is a passionate academic administrator. He served as President of the International Association for Earthquake Engineering during 2014-18. He was elected as a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering in 2003, and conferred with Life Membership by the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering (NZSEE) in 2013.

Under Dr Jain’s leadership, IITGN has introduced several innovations in curriculum, student affairs, faculty recruitment and institutional management to inculcate and promote excellence by faculty and students. Several of the initiatives founded under his leadership are being emulated in universities across the country. He led the development of IITGN’s new campus, which has also won several national awards and accolades, and made IITGN the first campus in India to receive the five-star GRIHA-LD rating. 

Eleven years ago, we had a chance to shape IITGN differently from other institutions of this country… We have to give IITGN a constitution, not necessarily in writing but verbally or in practice to think internally how we want to live, manage our relationships at various levels and maintain our ethos. We have to speed up in making greater improvements to make IITGN an example for other educational institutions across the country and thus contribute in nation-building.

Prof Sudhir K Jain

Director, IITGN

Dr Jain holds a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Roorkee, and Masters and Doctoral degrees from California Institute of Technology, Pasadena.  He has made major contributions to earthquake engineering practice and education in India. He was instrumental in the development of several important seismic codes in India. He has trained thousands of professional engineers and college teachers in earthquake engineering through his continuing education programmes. He established the National Information Centre of Earthquake Engineering (NICEE) at IITK and developed the National Programme on Earthquake Engineering Education (NPEEE), supported by the Government of India.

Dr Jain has served as a consultant for several major projects, such as bridges, petrochemical pipelines and concrete dams, and has published more than 150 scholarly papers. His research interests include the study of damaging earthquakes, reinforced concrete buildings, bridges and seismic codes.

The award of this honour to Dr Jain was covered by some of the leading Indian newspapers and media. Click on the links below to read/watch more.