Guru Prasad Chatterjee obtained Doctorates in Metallurgy and Physics (1948-49), University of Pittsburgh, USA with specialization in metallurgy. He was Professor and Head, Department of Metallurgy and Chemistry, Bengal Engineering College, Sibpur, West Bengal (1952-63); Ford Foundation Fellow and Adviser, Indian Scholarship for Technical Education, USA (1957-59); and Research and Scientific Adviser, Hindustan Steels Ltd. (1963-68).

Academic and Research Achievements: Chatterjee's original contributions related to: (i) internal friction and vibration damping capacity of metals and alloys, derivation of a simple relation between their specific damping capacities and physical properties like specific gravity, Young's modulus, specific heat at constant pressure and the rate of rise of temperature at a given stress and frequency of vibration; and (ii) corrosion phenomena, characteristics of oxidation and rate of formation of thin films on metals and alloys. He expressed corrosion phenomena quantitatively with the help of new functions related to the growth mechanism of films; deduced a mathematical relation based on potential energy densities and introduced a new concept of hardness of metals and alloys.

Other Contributions: Chatterjee was Founder President of Association for Advancement of Scientific and Ethical Thinking and Services. He was Honorary Technical Adviser to Alloy Steel Plant (1968-75) and Member of Mining, Geological and Metallurgical Institute of India; Institute of Metals and Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science.

Awards and Honours: Chatterjee received Kamani Gold Medal of Institution of Engineers, India and was President, Engineering and Metallurgy Section of Indian Science Congress. He was conferred upon the lectureships, namely, Holland Memorial Lecture; Gandhi Memorial Lecture of Institute of Metals; Foundation Day Lectures of Central Fuel Research Institute, and National Institute of Foundry and Forge Technology; Sailendra Memorial Lecture and Foundation Lecture of Hindustan Steels Ltd. He was a Fellow of Institution of Engineers (India).

Indian National Science Academy has instituted 'Guru Prasad Chatterjee Memorial Lecture' in his memory.