Dharma (righteousness) protects those who protect it. In modern times, it is the judges and judiciary that ensure that Dharma is protected and justice delivered. Several unique aspects of judicial work contribute to the pressures. As legal systems become more complex and societal expectations continue to grow, attention to judicial well-being will become increasingly important.
Dr A Chandrasekar is the ISRO Chair Professor at Natural Science and Engineering School, National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) since 17 July 2026. Dr Chandrasekar has about thirty eight years of academic and research experience with 21 years at the Department of Physics, IIT Kharagpur (IIT KGP) and 17 years at the Department of Earth and Space Sciences, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), Trivandrum.
Dr Chandrasekar’s professional academic qualifications include a B.Sc in Physics (University of Madras), MSc in Meteorology (University of Cochin) and a PhD degree in Applied Mathematics, PhD thesis being “Numerical studies of some fluid flow problems in rotating laminar boundary layers” (Indian Institute of Science).
Dr Chandrasekar’s major area of research is in the area of Atmospheric Sciences, while his expertise is in Mesoscale modelling, Data Assimilation and Land Atmosphere Interaction studies. Dr Chandrasekar has taught several UG courses in Physics at IIT KGP and several PG courses in Atmospheric Sciences at both IIT KGP and IIST. Dr Chandrasekar has successfully supervised thirteen PhD students and has published seventy two peer reviewed journal publications.
Dr Chandrasekar has written two books, titled, (i) Basics of Atmospheric Sciences, the first and second editions of the above book was published by Prentice Hall India Limited in 2010 and in 2022, and (ii) Numerical Methods for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, published by Cambridge University Press in 2022. Dr Chandrasekar jointly with Dr Govindan Kutty contributed to a book chapter in 2013, titled, “Studies on the impacts of 3DVAR assimilation of satellite observations on the simulation of monsoon depressions over India “, Springer (pp 643-705) in “Data Assimilation for Atmospheric, Oceanic and Hydrologic Applications (Vol. II)” eds. by Seon Ki Park and Liang Xu.
Dr Chandrasekar, in addition to his academic and research experience, had sizable administrative experience that included the following. Dr Chandrasekar served (i) as a Co-Chairman JAM (Joint Admission Test for Masters), an All-India entrance examination conducted by IIT’s (2008-2009), and helped IIT KGP oversee JAM 2009 exam, for which IIT KGP was the organizing IIT, (ii) served as Head, Center for Ocean River Atmosphere and Land Sciences (CORAL) at IIT KGP for a year (July 2008-June 2009), (iii) served as Registrar at IIST for nearly six years (Jan 2013- October 2018), (iv) served as Dean (Academics) at IIST for ten years (Feb 2014-Jan 2024), (v) served as Dean (R&D) at IIST for two years (Feb 2024-Jan 2026), and (vi) served as Head, Department of Earth and Space Sciences at IIST for six years (July 2009-Sep 2015).
Dr Chandrasekar secured (i) University First Rank in the M.Sc. (Meteorology) examinations in 1984 from Cochin University, (ii) the Science and Technology Agency (STA) Japanese Fellowship (Dec 1997-Feb 1998) and (iii) Astronautical Society of India Award for the year 2014 for contributions in the field of Space Sciences. Dr Chandrasekar has visited as researcher the (i) Meteorological Research Institute (MRI), Tsukuba, Japan twice (both times three months duration) in Dec 1997- Feb 1998 and in May-July 2008, (ii) Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA for two years (2000-2002), and (iii) Purdue University, USA twice (both times for five weeks duration) in June-July 2005 and June-July 2018.