Jaysukh Jagmohandas Shah underwent imprisonment for about seven months during the 1942 Freedom Struggle. He obtained BSc (Hons) and MSc degrees from University of Bombay, and PhD (Botany) from MS University of Baroda with helpful guidance of Professor P Maheshwari. He served as Lecturer, MTB College, Surat; Reader (Botany), Annamalai and Gujarat universities; Head, Department of Biosciences and Professor of Botany, Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar; also Visiting Research Fellow, Cornell University, USA (1976-77), UGC National lecturer (1977-78) . Subsequent to his retirement (1984), he became UGC Emeritus Fellow (1984) and also was INSA Senior Scientist (1985-88).

Academic and Research Achievements: Dr Shah established a research center in plant anatomy in the Sardar Patel University. His main areas of research involved: development and structure of axillary buds, tendrils, gums and resin forming tissues, phloem and sapwood-heartwood. He published more than 160 research papers and also authored the books: Botanist Jaykrishanbhai(1999) and Plants in Sanskrit Literature (2014) Thirty students obtained their PhD under his guidance.

Other Contributions: Dr Shah served as Founder Member of the Gujarat Academy of Sciences. He was Joint Editor of the Book From Structure and Function in Plants. He was Member of the Indian Delegation sponsored by UGC to attend 12th International Botanical Congress at St. Petersburg (Leningrad) in 1975.

Awards and Honours: Dr Shah was recipient of the Professor V Puri Award of the Indian Botanical Society; and UGC National Lecturership (1977). Considering his participation in the 1942 Freedom Struggle, Government of India distinguished him as a Freedom Fighter in 1980.