Kedareswar Banerjee obtained his DSc degree (1929) from the University of Calcutta. His area of specialization was crystallography. He was Reader, University of Dacca; Mahendra Lal Sircar Professor (1943-52), Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), Kolkata; Professor & Head, Department of Physics, University of Allahabad (1952-59); and Director, IACS (1959).

Academic and Research Achievements: Banerjee's theoretical and experimental investigations on stress optic effect in isotropic solids have received recognition. He made significant contributions on X-ray diffraction by liquids and the determination of atomic arrangement in the crystals of naphthalene and anthracene, which opened up the field of analysis of the atomic structures of aromatic crystals. At the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science he worked on structures of organic crystals, metals, fibres and glass by X-ray, magnetic and optical methods. He developed an algebraic method for finding the sign of the terms appearing in the Fourier series in the determination of crystal structure.

Other Contributions: Banerjee's significant contribution was the creation of active schools of research in crystallography, such as Crystallographic Centres at Dhaka, Allahabad, Roorkee, Burdwan and Lucknow Universities; at IIT's of Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras and Bombay; and at IACS and Presidency College, Kolkata; Projects and Development India Ltd., Sindri (Dhanbad) and Geological Survey of India (GSI), Kolkata, which were set up either singly by him or in association with his students. He was also a Member of INSA Council (1957-58).

Awards and Honours: Banerjee was a Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore; National Academy of Sciences (India), Allahabad; Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science; and Indian Physical Society (Honorary Secretary).