Virtual Memorial View of some of the virtual memorial attendees The memorial event was held under the guidance of Mr Ray Mehra, Chairman IITRAANA Board, and Prof Atma Sahu, Past-President of IITRAANA and President of IIT Roorkee Foundation, with support from Mr Niraj Gupta and Mr Manish Saraf. Prof. Joshi's colleagues and students from his Roorkee days as faculty and administrator participated including Prof Harpreet Singh, Dr Anand Prakash, Dean of Resources and Alumni Affairs Prof Gurjar, Mr Ashutosh Malaviya, Mr Shivajee Samdarshi, Mr. Niraj Gupta and Mr Manish Saraf. Among too many to list personal and professional achievements of Prof Joshi, he was remembered for his world-class research, pursuit for scientific knowledge, commitment to teaching excellence, hard work and humility. His students and others during his time spoke about his positivity, brilliance, true nature to help others, how he cared for his students not just as a teacher but also helped them adjust to university life. Being with him made one feel in "presence of greatness". Vice Chancellor of Vice Chancellors Two Vice-chancellors and "Vice-chancellor of Vice-chancellors" at Prof Harpreet Singh's wedding reception on Jun 8th 1981) (Photo Courtesy: Prof Harpreet Singh) In Prof Chaturvedi’s words, Prof Joshi was "institution builder at the national level", "remarkable teacher, able leader and very accomplished researcher". People at Roorkee felt proud of multiple things that he achieved at Roorkee. At the institute level, Department of Physics felt deeply indebted to him. Prof Chaturvedi mentioned initiatives in works to recognize Prof Joshi's contributions need to be recognized to befit the memory of someone as high as the stature of Prof Joshi. More information will be shared with the alumni, when available. In a thoughtful and touching tribute, Mr Sanjay Joshi shared his father's journey from Aparna, a small village in Uttarakhand, to a national leader, an eminent physicist, teacher, advisor to Prime Minister, and recipient of national awards - Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. He shared many inspiring events from Prof Joshi's formative years and how his hard work and diligence earned him the respect of President APJ Kalam and well known luminaries like Dr Raja Ramanna, Dr A.S. Arya, Dr D.V. Singh and Dr V.K. Gaur. Prof Gurjar, Dean of Resources and Alumni Affairs, in his tribute mentioned establishing a chair in Prof Joshi's memory to carry on his values through education, science, technology and physics. Prof Sahu remembered him as a bridge builder between national labs and being at Roorkee. He mentioned Prof Joshi being instrumental in converting University to Roorkee to IIT and he was the first chairman of the board of governors of IIT Roorkee. Prof Sahu also mentioned IIT Roorkee Foundation Inc. for contributions to support these efforts from alumni. Mr Ray Mehra thanked all the dignitaries and closed the meeting noting the exemplary legacy of a great man, Prof. Joshi. Mr Mehra mentioned it as a tremendous loss at not having met Dr Joshi - "great teacher and elevated soul" for not just IIT Roorkee but to all whose life he touched for better, We all are blessed to have the honor of walking the same halls and lawns as Prof S. K. Joshi, and benefit from his knowledge. Let's all be inspired by Dr. S. K. Joshi's drive for perfection, punctuality and humility and make IIT Roorkee known for its Alumni's accomplishments globally. |
