Duraiswami Narayanamurti obtained his Dr Ing (1935) from Technical University of Danzig (Gdansk), Poland specializing in biochemistry and wood technology. He served as the Chief Research Officer, Composite Wood and Wood Preservation Branch; President, Forest Research Institute, Dehra Dun; Professor and Head, Division of Mechanical Technology and Director, Indian Plywood Industries Research Association, Bangalore; CSIR Emeritus Scientist and Principal Investigator, PL-480 Project, National Aeronautical (now Aerospace) Laboratory, Bangalore.

Academic and Research Achievements:Narayanamurti’s early scientific contributions were in biochemistry and a major part of his subsequent work was on wood science, composite wood and adhesives. He made different types of adhesives for the plywood industry from several indigenous protein materials and also developed synthetic resins suitable for Indian woods. He developed various types of plywood, handboard and particle board for industry, and special improved woods for defence aircrafts and railways. He developed techniques of evaluation of basic properties of composite materials and collected considerable amount of data on Indian species. Among his fundamental investigations, were swelling pressures and shrinkage of wood and wood products, permeability and diffusion characteristics, rheology of wood and adhesives, influence of wood extractives on utility characteristics such as durability, glueing, etc. He was considered a pioneer in wood science and technology in the country.

Others Contributions:Duraiswami was the Member, FAO Working Group on Wood Chemistry, International Committee on Rheology, and Commonwealth Composite Wood Corresponding Committee; Chairman, ISI (now, Bureau of Indian Standards) Sectional Committee on Wood Products and Sports Goods.

Awards and Honours:Narayanamurti was the recipient of MBE (Order of the Member of British Empire) (1944) and Golden Jubilee Medal (Forest Research Institute) (1956). He was the Fellow, Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore, Royal Institute of Chemistry (London), Institute of Physics (London), Physical Society (London), and International Academy of Wood Science (Vienna); Member, Verein Deutsche Ingenieure (Berlin), Faraday Society (London), Kolloid Gesselschaft (Leipzig), Biochemical Society (London), Society of Biological Chemists (India), and Aeronautical Society of India (Council Member).