Balajapalli Sriram Shastry obtained his BSc (1968) from Nagpur University, MSc (1970) from IIT Madras and PhD (Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics) from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) where he worked with CK Majumdar. Thereafter, he was Lecturer in Physics, University of Hyderabad, Postdoctoral Fellow, Imperial College, London (1979), later at the University of Utah (1980) where he worked with B Sutherland. He was then Fellow, TIFR (1982), Visiting Faculty Member, Princeton University (1987) and MTS in the Theoretical Division of the Bell Laboratories at Murray Hill (1988). He returned to India and joined IISc as a Professor in (1994). Since 2003, he is a Professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Academic and Research Achievements: Shastry's key research findings in quantum magnetism relate to the exact solution of the inverse squared exchange model, and a two-dimensional quantum spin model later realized experimentally in strontium copper borate, the first construction of spinons, the first proof of long-ranged order in 2-D quantum XY model ground state and thereby the proof of Bose condensation surviving repulsive interactions. His other notable findings are the discovery of infinite conservation laws of 1-D Hubbard model and its integrability, a new inequality for correlations functions, and exact solution of nonlinear Schroedinger equation with multi soliton solutions. In condensed matter physics, his specialization is in strongly correlated systems, where he worked on the theory of Raman scattering, NMR form factors in high T not c systems, theory of the Hall effect, kinetic antiferromagnetism, and on the fundamental problem of superconductivity from repulsive models.

Other Contributions: Shastry was Scientific Secretary of TIFR Winter school at Panchgani (1985). He was member of the IUPAP Panel on Magnetism and Statistical Mechanics.

Awards and Honours: Professor Shastry was conferred the Basic Science Award by Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS) (1999). He was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society, Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore, and TWAS. He received the 2009 APS Lars Onsager Prize for Statistical Mechanics.