SC Bhattacharyya obtained his BSc (1938) from Calcutta University, MSc (1940) and PhD (1944) from the University of Dacca. He then obtained a second PhD (1949) and ScD (1964) from the University of Cambridge, UK specializating in Natural Products Chemistry and Analytical Chemistry. He was at Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore as a Lecturer for a short stint. He was Scientist, National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), Pune (1951-66); Senior Professor and Deputy Director, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, Mumbai (1966-76); and Director, Bose Institute, Kolkata (1977). He was an Honorary Visiting Professor at IIT, Powai.

Academic and Research Achievements: Bhattacharyya isolated and determined the structure of over 100 complex natural products, especially terpenoids and coumarins. He synthesized all the naturally occurring macrocyclic musk compounds as well as jasmines, rose oxide, santalols and santalenes. He developed synthetic approaches for prostaglandins and new analytical reagents. He published 250 papers and guided 90 students for their PhD degree.

Other Contributions: Bhattacharyya was largely responsible for establishing a strong research school in organic chemistry at NCL and for building up the Chemistry Department at IIT Bombay. He was Editor of Journal of Indian Chemical Society (1967-70) and served as a Member of Editorial Board of Indian Journal of Chemistry. He was an Advisor to the House of the Tatas. Bhattacharyya was an INSA Council Member (1978-80) and Honorary Life Member of Perfumes and Flavours Association of India.

Awards and Honours: Bhattacharyya received many awards and honours that included KG Naik Gold Medal of MS University of Baroda (1960), SS Bhatnagar Prize (1962), Acharya PC Ray Memorial Lecture and Medal of the Indian Chemical Society (1969), Professor K Venkataraman Lecture and Award of University of Bombay (1970), Acharya JC Ghosh Memorial Lecture and Medal of Indian Chemical Society (1971), Dr BC Roy National Award of ICMR (1978), Professor TR Seshadri Seventieth Birthday Commemoration Medal of INSA (1979), and GP Chatterjee Memorial Lecture Award of INSA (1981). He was Vice-President of INSA (1980-84). He was a Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore and the Indian Chemical Society.