Krishna Das Bagchee completed his DSc from the University of London, UK. His areas of specialization were Botany / Forest Flora and Forest Pathology. He held the positions of Forest Mycologist, Forest Botanist and Chief Research Officer, at the Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehra Dun. He was Director, Botanical Research, Jammu & Kashmir State, and Emeritus Professor at the FRI.

Academic and Research Achievements: At the Forest Research Institute, Dehra Dun, Bagchee established a laboratory for forest diseases and started the mycology herbarium museum and culture collection. He conducted studies on taxonomy, ecology, physiology and pathology of lignicolous fungi that attacked trees and felled timber, and did pioneering work on the biology, taxonomy and control of rust fungi in Indian conifers, and diseases of sal, root rot and heart rot.

Awards and Honours: KD Bagchee won the Golden Jubilee Medal (Forest Research Institute) and the Dr Barclay Medal of the Asiatic Society in 1954. He was also a member of the INSA Council (1943-45). He was the President of the Indian Botanical Society (1946), Indian Phytopathological Society (1955) and President, Botany Section, Indian Science Congress (1939).