Vadapalli Chandrasekhar did his BSc and MSc from Osmania University, Hyderabad. Subsequently, he joined the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore from where he obtained his PhD (1982). After a post-doctoral stint at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (1983-86), he joined the Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Limited, Vadodara and worked for a year. He joined the Department of Chemistry, IIT Kanpur as an Assistant Professor (1987) and was promoted to the rank of Professor in 1995.

Academic and Research Achievements: Chandrasekhar's research interests are in the area of main-group organometallic chemistry, particularly, on the synthesis, structure and reactivity of inorganic clusters, rings and polymers. His group has contributed significantly to the development of new synthetic methodologies for the assembly of organotin clusters, multi-metal assemblies, cages and supramolecules. He has also pioneered the chemistry of new inorganic-cored starburst molecules and polymeric ligands. His group also focuses on the application of these diverse molecules in catalysis, stabilization of nanoparticles and in the assembly of new magnetic and optical materials. Chandrasekhar has published over 175 papers in peer-reviewed international journals and several conference proceedings. He has authored a book entitled Inorganic and Organometallic Polymers (Springer-Verlag, 2005).

Other Contributions: Chandrasekhar has taught many core and elective courses during his stint at IIT Kanpur and has developed several new courses at the under-graduate and post-graduate levels.

Awards and Honours: Chandrasekhar has received several national and international awards. Prominent ones among them are: INSA Medal for Young Scientists (1989); Homi Bhaba Fellowship (1998-2000); SS Bhatnagar Award (2003); and the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Bessel Research Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany (2003). He is a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore (2003) and National Academy of Sciences (India), Allahabad (2007).