Vishnu Dutt Sharma received the BSc (1966) and MSc (1968) degrees from University of Allahabad, and PhD in Mathematics (1972) from Banaras Hindu University. Thereafter, he worked at the Institute of Technology, BHU (1972-87) and has been Professor, Department of Mathematics, IIT Bombay since 1988). He also worked with Shih-I Pai at Maryland, Alan Jeffrey at New-castle, and Richard Meyer in Wisconsin on problems involving non-linear hyperbolic partial differential equations and the associated wave phenomena. He was Visiting Faculty at the University of Maryland and also visited the Universities of Wisconsin, George Washington, Delaware, Southern California, Stanford, and the US National Weapon's Center.

Academic and Research Achievements: Professor Sharma has taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses in mathematics, and initiated collaborative research in the area of non-linear gas dynamic waves governed by hyperbolic PDEs. His research works, which relate to the development of the theory and its applications to several physical situations, has impacted many subsequent works in the area. He guided 12 PhD and over 25 Masters students and published more than 80 papers in peer reviewed journals.

Other Contributions: Professor Sharma has been Member of the Indian Mathematical Society, Indian Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Indian Science Congress Association, and the American Mathematical Society. He is currently on the Editorial Board of Indian Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics and is also Member of National committees of the International Council of Scientific Union, International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, and International Mathematics Union.

Awards and Honours: Sharma was conferred Excellence in Teaching Award by IIT Bombay (1998, 2003), CL Chandna Award for Mathematics Research and Teaching (1999), MN Saha National Award for Research in Theoretical Sciences (2001), Distinguished Service Award by Vijnana Parishad of India, and the Indian Society of Information Theory and Applications to promote Applications of Mathematics in India (2002), and the IIT Bombay-Professor SC Bhattacharya Award for Research in Pure Sciences (2003).