Padmanabhan Krishna did his BSc from Holkar College, Indore (Agra University) and MSc (Physics) from Delhi University. He joined the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) as a Research Fellow and completed his PhD (1962) under the guidance of Ajit Ram Verma. He served on the faculty of the Physics Department at BHU (1962-86). He has held visiting positions at the University of Cambridge (1964); University of Wisconsin (1968-69); Cambridge Research Labs (1969-71); University of Bristol (1980-81) and the Max-Planck Institut for Solid State Physics in Stuttgart, Germany. He took voluntary retirement from BHU (1986) and joined the Krishnamurti Foundation India (KFI) Education Centre at Rajghat, Varanasi as Rector (1986-2002). He was Visiting Professor (also INSA Senior Scientist, 2003-06; INSA Honorary Scientist, 2006-08) at the Physics Department of Devi Ahilya University, Indore. He rejoined the KFI Education Centre in Varanasi (2008) where he is in-charge of the study centre.

Academic and Research Achievements: Professor Krishna taught solid-state physics and crystallography in the Physics Department at BHU. His research on imperfections in solids and their role in crystal growth as well as phase transformations showed that there were anomalies in understanding the growth of polytype structures of silicon carbide. His group also studied solid-state transformations in SiC and ZnS, which occur due to the non-random insertion of stacking faults. They evolved a method for determining the mechanism of solid-state transformations. He has published over six review articles and seventy research papers in international journals and co-authored two books entitled 'Polymorphism Polytypism in Crystals' and 'Random, Non-Random and Periodic Faulting in Crystals'.

Other Contributions: Dr Krishna was a member of the Commission for Crystallographic Teaching of the  International Union of Crystallography (1972-1981) and  its Chairman during 1981-84. He was Associate Editor of the international review journal Progress in Crystal Growth and Characterization of Materials. He is a Trustee, Krishnamurti Foundation India, Chennai (1986) and Life- member, Theosophical Society of India. He has written over 40 articles on education, science and society and has contributed in building the Physics Department at BHU as co-ordinator of the UGC special assistance programme (1980-86) as well as in building a new kind of alternative education at the Rajghat Education Centre in Varanasi.