Amulya Reddy
Amulya Kumar N. Reddy (21 October 1930 - 7 May 2006) was Professor in the Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, and Convener of the Center for the Application of Science and Technology to Rural Areas (ASTRA), at the Indian Institute of Science, in addition he was Secretary, Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology. At the time of preparing this paper he was also Senior Visiting Research Scientist at the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies, Princeton University. He had very wide experience with energy studies in developing countries, ranging from policy issues to the very intensive, detailed  studies of individual villages that he and his colleagues at ASTRA have carried out in South India. Early life. Amulya Reddy was born on October 21, 1930 in Bangalore (now Bengaluru). He did his schooling at St Joseph's School, Bangalore. In 1946, he was selected as a opening batsman and leg break bowler for the Madras University cricket team. After the Independence of India in August 1947, he joined a student strike for a responsible government in Mysore. In 1948, he met many socialist leaders and was a student activist. In 1951, he married Vimala Pawar. University education. In  1951, he completed his Bachelor of Science (Honours) and Master of Science in Physical Chemistry from Central College, Bangalore. Then he joined Central College, Bangalore as a Chemistry lecturer. From 1955 to 1958, he completed his Doctorate from the Imperial College of Science & Technology, London, in Applied Physical Chemistry. While in London, he worked as a railway porter at Waterloo station, London. Academic career. After completing his doctorate in 1951, Reddy joined the Central Electrochemical Research Institute (CECRI), Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu as a senior scientific officer. In 1961, he moved to the US as a post-doctoral fellow at John  Harrison Laboratory, University of Pennsylvania. In 1966, he joined the Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore as an assistant professor. In 1969, he was co-author with J.O’M Bockris of the two-volume textbook “Modern Electrochemistry”. In 1973, he decided to quit electro-chemistry. In 1974, he became a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Science, and in the same year, he became a convener of Cell for the Application of Science & Technology to Rural Areas (ASTRA), founded at IISc. The next year, he was involved in setting up the Karnataka State Council for  Science & Technology (KSCST)  with M.Y. Ghorpade (then Finance Minister of Karnataka) and Satish Dhawan (then Director, IISc). In 1975, he took a sabbatical till 1976 for attending United Nations Environment Programme at Nairobi, Kenya. In 1978, Reddy met Jose Goldemberg from the Institute of Electrical Engineering and Energy, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, Thomas B Johansson from Department of Environmental and Energy Systems Analysis, University of Lund, Sweden & Robert H Williams from Center for Energy and Environmental Studies, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA). Amulya and they formed the ‘gang of four’. In 1983, Reddy took a two -year sabbatical to attend the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey. In 1985, he returned to the IISc and took over as chairman, Department of Management Studies. In 1986, he started work on the alternative energy paradigm called DEFENDUS (Development Focused END Use oriented Service directed) In 1988, he published his book on ‘Energy for a Sustainable World’. In 1991, he retired from IISc. Retirement and aftermath. After his retirement from IISc, in 1991, he started International Energy Initiative (IEI) as its Founder and President and in 1994, he started ‘Energy for Sustainable Development (ESD ) as the journal of the IEI. In next two years, he co-edited books ‘The technology transformation of rural India’ and ‘Rural energy planning'. In 2000, at the age 70, he took voluntary retirement from many positions like Chairman of IEI. Death and legacy. On 26 May 2006, Amulya Reddy died in Bengaluru.