IIT Delhi establishes Professor NK Jha Chair for research and training in Chemistry

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi has established a chair to support research and training in chemistry at the institute.

Apoorva Jha Bansal, Aparna Jha Ahuja, Rajesh Jha (IIT Delhi alumnus, BTech Mechanical, 1982) and Rakesh Jha (IIT Delhi alumnus, BTech Manufacturing, 1994) have endowed the chair in honour of their father N.K. Jha, professor and a former member of the Chemistry faculty at IIT Delhi.

N.K. Jha was among the earliest members of the Chemistry department, starting as a lecturer in 1965 and retiring as professor in 1997. He also served as head of the department and chairman of the departmental research committee. He is known for his work on the discovery of hitherto unknown noble gas compounds as part of his PhD with Neil Bartlett at the University of British Columbia.

At IIT Delhi, Jha continued research in Inorganic Chemistry and supervised many post-doctoral fellows, over 20 PhD students, and numerous postgraduates. He also contributed significantly to the institute community serving as president, board of student welfare, housemaster and staff welfare scheme secretary.

Teaching and pedagogy were important to the professor and he was actively involved in guiding curriculum development, setting syllabus, contributing to textbooks through participating in numerous NCERT, UGC, and university committees and workshops.

Jha’s family hoped the chair would “further advance research and teaching in the department, which has always been dear to our father”.

“Professor Jha was a distinguished faculty member from 1965-1997 and a well-known researcher in Inorganic Chemistry. We acknowledge the pledge of Apoorva Jha Bansal, Aparna Jha Ahuja, Rajesh Jha and Rakesh Jha to make this possible. The confidence of the benefactors in the department inspires us, and their generosity propels us forward,” said Narayanan Kurur, head of the department of Chemistry.