Ganapathy Baskaran obtained his PhD (1975) from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. His specialization was in condensed matter physics, statistical mechanics and quantum field theory. He has held the position of Reader, Department of Physics, University of Madras (1979-82), Visiting Professor at SISSA and ICTP, Italy (1982-84), Research Staff, Physics Department, Princeton University (1984-87), and Professor of Physics, Institute of Mathematical Science, CIT Campus, Madras (1987 onwards).

Academic and Research Achievements: Baskaran's contributions lie in the fields of (i) quantum theory of spin chains, (ii) fractional quantized Hall effect, (iii) high-temperature superconductors and strongly correlated electron system, (iv) random lattice gauge theory; and (v) optimization problems. He has made seminal contributions to the development of the resonating bond theory of high-temperature superconductivity in strongly correlated electron systems. His reformulation of resonating valence bond as a local gauge theory has opened up new directions in the field.

Other Contributions: Baskaran has co-edited 3 Volumes on Strongly Correlated Electron Systems (World Scientific, Singapore).

Awards and Honours: Baskaran received Kastler Prize (1983) and SS Bhatnagar Prize (1990). He is a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore.