Sushanta Kumar Dattagupta completed BSc and MSc degrees in Physics from Calcutta University. Following a one-year stint as lecturer in Physics in Presidency College, Kolkata, he joined the Brookhaven National Laboratory and St. John's University, New York from where he completed his PhD in 1973. He was a post-doctoral Fellow at the Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh (1973-1975) and a Senior Research Associate at the University of Alberta (1975-76). On returning to India, Dattagupta was at the Materials Science Laboratory, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam (1976-81); at the School of Physics, University of Hyderabad (1981-86) and then at the newly founded School of Physical Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (1986-99). He was the Director at the SN Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata (1999-2005).

Academic and Research Achievements: Dattagupta is a condensed matter theorist with wide interest in both static and dynamic phenomena. His work is marked by close relation to phenomena and active collaboration with experimentalists. Professor Dattagupta has approximately hundred publications in international journals and has authored and edited several books. During his long career he had mentored a number of students for pursuing PhD. Besides being an active researcher, Dattagupta is deeply committed to develop science education in India.

Other Contributions: Professor Dattagupta is the Founder-Director of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata, an institution established by the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India in 2006. He is a Council Member of the National Academy of Sciences (India), Allahabad (2001-07), Council Member and Vice President of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore (2004-09).

Awards and Honours: Professor Dattagupta has been an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow in Julich, Germany, Senior Associate of the ICTP, Trieste and Visiting Associate of Darwin College, Cambridge University. He is a recipient of the INSA Medal for Young Scientists (1977) Dattagupta was Foreign Secretary (1998-2000) and Vice President (2001) of INSA, New Delhi. He was the recipient of Meghnad Saha Memorial Award of the National Academy of Sciences (India), Allahabad (2005) and CV Raman Birth Centenary Award of the Indian Science Congress (2006). Professor Dattagupta was also awarded the JC Bose Fellowship of DST (2007). He is a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore (1992), National Academy of Sciences (India), Allahabad (1995), Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS) (1999) and West Bengal Academy of Science and Technology (2000).