Sankar Kumar Pal obtained his BSc (Hons) (Physics) (1969), BTech (1972), MTech (1974) and PhD (1979) in Radio Physics & Electronics, all from Calcutta University. In 1982, he received another PhD (Electrical Engineering) from London University along with Diploma of the Imperial College (DIC), London. He worked at the University of California, Berkeley and University of Maryland, College Park (1986-87) as Fulbright Fellow, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston (1990-92, 1994) as NRC-NAS Senior Research Associate, Distinguished Visitor of IEEE Computer Society (USA) for Asia-Pacific Region (1997), and US Naval Research Laboratory, Washington DC (2004) as Visiting Scientist. His research career started as CSIR SRF (1975) at Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata, where he later became Professor (1987), Distinguished Scientist (1998), Director (2005) and President (2022).

Academic and Research Achievements: Pal has made seminal contributions in the field of pattern recognition and machine intelligence using both classical and soft computing paradigms. He pioneered the development and use of fuzzy sets, neuro-fuzzy, rough-fuzzy and granular computing approaches allowing soft decisions for reducing uncertainty and enhancing performance, speed and flexibility of pattern recognition, image processing and data mining methodologies. Notable operators/tools developed by him include: correlation between fuzzy sets, entropy measures, fuzzy-MAT, rough image entropy, fuzzy multilayer perceptron, mixed category perception network, feature-similarity based unsupervised feature selection for large data, density based multi-scale data condensation algorithm, fuzzy feature evaluation network, Hough transform network, optimal stopping time for genetic algorithms, variable-length chromosome genetic classifier, evolutionary-modular-rough-fuzzy knowledge based network, fuzzy-granular case generator, generalized rough-fuzzy c-means algorithm, generalized rough-fuzzy entropy, granular self-organizing map, nearest fragment operator for gene ordering, fuzzy web surfer model, fuzzy granular social network models, Z*-numbers and thought processing model, granular flow graph, neighborhood rough filter, granulated deep learning and G-RCNN architecture. He demonstrated applications in biometrics, medical imaging, space mission, bioinformatics, web intelligence, social network mining, video analytics, safety analytics and machine-mind development. He introduced and nurtured the Soft Computing concept and research in India. He co-authored 21 books, about 500 research papers, and 2 US Patents, and mentored 22 Ph.D. students. His Google scholar h-index is 80 with about 35K citations.

Other Contributions: Pal founded the reputable Machine Intelligence Unit of ISI in 1993. In recognition of his outstanding contributions, India\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s first Center for Soft Computing Research was established by DST, GoI at ISI, Kolkata under his leadership. He served as Associate Editor, Guest Editor and Advisory Editor of 30+ internationally reputed journals, Series Editor for World Scientific, Singapore and IOS Press, Netherlands, Founding President, Indian National Academy of Engineering, Kolkata Chapter, and former Chairman, IT Academic Council, West Bengal. He visited forty-five countries as keynote/ invited speaker or academic visitor.

Awards and Honours: Professor Pal was conferred the SS Bhatnagar Prize (1990), Padma Shri (2013), Vikram Sarabhai Award (1993), J Nehru Fellowship (1993), IEEE Distinguished Speaker for Asia-Pacific (1997), Om Bhasin Award (1998), GD Birla Award (1999), Khwarizmi International Award, Iran (2000), FICCI Award (2000-01), NASA Tech Briefs Award, USA (1993), Neural Networks Outstanding Paper Award by IEEE (1994), Patent Application Award by NASA (1995), IETE-Wadhwa Gold Medal (1997), INSA-Zaheer Medal (2001), ISC-PC Mahalanobis Birth Centenary Gold Medal (2005-06), JC Bose Fellowship (2007), Vigyan Ratna Award by Science-Culture Organization, West Bengal (2008), INAE Chair Professor (2013), IETE Diamond Jubilee Medal (2013), INAE SN Mitra Award (2015), DAE Raja Ramanna Fellowship (2015). INSA J Nehru Birth Centenary Lecture Award (2017), INSA Distinguished Professorial Chair (2018), SERB National Science Chair (2020), and AICTE Distinguished Chair Professor. He is an elected Fellow of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS), International Association for Pattern Recognition (IAPR), International Association for Fuzzy Systems (IFSA), Int. Rough Set Society (IRSS), National Academy of Sciences (India), Indian Academy of Sciences, and Indian National Academy of Engineering. He is also an elected Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts.