Ram Behari received PhD (1932), and DSc (1945) from University of Dublin, Ireland. He worked as Professor and Head, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Delhi; Founder Director, Correspondence Courses, University of Delhi; and also Vice-Chancellor, University of Jodhpur.

Academic and Research Achievements: Ram Behari made important contributions to the theory of ruled surfaces and rectilinear congruences, Riemannian spaces and generalized Riemannian spaces, complex manifolds, and Einstein’s Unified Field Theory. He is considered to be the father of differential geometry in India. He authored the monograph Differential Geometry of Ruled Surfaces, a standard reference.

Other Contributions: He served as Member of the International Commission of Mathematical Instruction (1954), International Mathematical Union and INSA Council (1961-63).

Awards and Honours: Professor Ram Behari was conferred the Uttar Pradesh Education Minister’s Gold Medal (1943) and Distinguished Service Award by Mathematical Association of India (1977). He was elected Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore and National Academy of Sciences (India), Allahabad; President, Calcutta Mathematical Society, Indian Mathematical Society (1953-56), Bharat Ganit Praishad, Academy for Progress of Mathematics, Society of Mathematical Sciences, and Mathematics Section, Indian Science Congress (once); and Chairman, Differential Geometry Section, International Congress of Mathematics.