Abraham studied at the University College, Colombo, from where he obtained BSc (external) of University of London (1941). Subsequently he joined the University of Lucknow and obtained MSc (1944) in Chemistry. After a short stint as Lecturer at Maharaja's College, Cochin, he joined Jaffna College, Sri Lanka (1947) as a Lecturer in Chemistry. In 1956, he joined the Nuffield Research Group in Extraction Metallurgy at the Department of Metallurgy, Imperial College, London, to conduct research on thermodynamic properties of iron and steel making slags. Supervised by late Professor FD Richardson, he obtained his PhD degree (1959) from the University of London. After a year of post-doctoral research at Imperial College, Abraham joined the Department of Metallurgy, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, as an Assistant Professor (1960). He was Visiting Scientist at the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London (1967), Visiting Professor at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm (1977-78), University of Toronto, Canada (1978) and Pennsylvania State University, USA (1998 and 1999). He served as Chairman of the Department of Metallurgy, IISc (1972-77).

Academic and Research Achievements: Professor Abraham took an active part in starting the ME degree course in chemical and physical metallurgy at IISc. He set up an extractive metallurgy laboratory and built several equipments for research at high temperatures, with special emphasis on thermodynamic and kinetic measurements of interest to extraction metallurgy. Reduction of oxides, roasting of sulphides, calorimetric studies of slags, and activity measurements using solid electrolytes were some of the areas of his research. His emphasis on quantitative measurements and scientific analysis of processes, aided the evolution of modern metallurgy in India. On the process side, he designed and built a pilot scale electro-slag refining unit for steel, which was used to develop process parameters for the manufacture of inclusion-free steels for the aeronautical and defense industries. Professor Abraham's studies on sulphur capacity of slags for steel making have been widely cited. He published about 100 technical papers and co-authored the book Extraction of Nonferrous Metals, which is used as an undergraduate text in many institutions. Professor Abraham guided 12 PhD and several ME, BE and MSc students.

Other Contributions: Professor Abraham was as a Member of Research Council of Central Electrochemical Research Institute and had been Consultant to many organizations such as Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Works (1975-78), Foundation to Aid Industrial Recovery, New Delhi (1982-86), Research and Development Centre for Iron and Steel, Ranchi (1986-90), Aluminium Association of India (1993-2007), etc. He was Editor (1989-2007) of the journal Aluminium India, published by the Aluminium Association of India and was a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee, Department of Steel, Ministry of Steel and Mines (1984-88) and of the Action Group of the Union Steel Industry (1985) to implement strategies to revitalize the steel industry.

Awards and Honours: Abraham received the Extraction and Processing Science Award of the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS), USA (1993). He was one of the scientists honoured for their pioneering contributions to the field in the last century at the International Conference on Molten Slags, Fluxes and Salts held in Stockholm in 2000. He was elected an Honorary Member of Indian Institute of Metals (IIM) (2005). He was a Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore and IIM, Kolkata.