| Intro | Indian geneticist |
| Was |
Scientist Biologist Geneticist |
| From | India |
| Type |
Biology Science |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | 7 January 1932 |
| Death |
26 July 2013 (aged 81 years) |
Obaid Siddiqi FRS (7 January 1932 – 26 July 2013) was a National Research Professor and the Founder-Director of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) National Center for Biological Sciences. His work includes research on the genetics and neurobiology of Drosophila.
Early life and education
He was born in 1932 in Uttar Pradesh. He received his early education at Aligarh Muslim University where he completed an M.Sc. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Glasgow, under the supervision of Guido Pontecorvo. He carried out his post doctoral research at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, University of Pennsylvania, and the MRC Laboratory at Cambridge. He was invited by Homi Bhabha to set up the molecular biology unit at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Bombay in 1962. Thirty years later, he became the founding director of the TIFR National Center for Biological Sciences in Bangalore, where he would continue his research into his final days of life.
Awards and honours
- President of the Indian Academy of Sciences
- Member, Royal Society, London
- Member, US National Academy of Sciences, Washington
- Member, Third World Academy, Trieste
- Visiting professorships at Yale University
- Visiting Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Visiting Professor, The California Institute of Technology
- Visiting Professor, Cambridge University
- Twice Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Scholar at Caltech
- Sir Syed Ahmad Khan International Award for Life Sciences 2009
- Padma Vibhushan, 2006
- Dr. B. C. Roy Award, 2004
- Sir Syed Life Time Achievement Award, AMUAA New York, 2004
- Pride of India Award, AFMI, USA, 2004
- INSA Aryabhata Medal 1992;
- Goyal Prize 1991;
- Birla Smarak Kosh National Award 1989;
- Padma Bhushan 1984;
- Bhatnagar Award 1976;
- Life member of Clare Hall, Cambridge.
- Honorary D.Sc., Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh
- Honorary D.Sc., Banaras Hindu University, Benaras
- Honorary D.Sc., Jamia Hamdard, Delhi
- Honorary D.Sc., Kalyani University, Kalyani
- Honorary D.Sc., Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay
- Honorary D.Sc., Jamia Milia, Delhi
- Honorary D.Sc., Central University of Hyderabad
- “Indian Fellow”. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
- “Padma Awards”. Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 November 2014. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
Legacy
Siddiqi died on 26 July 2013 in Bangalore following a freak road accident on 21 July 2013 which caused severe damage to the brain. He is survived by his wife Asiya, sons Imran and Kaleem, and daughters Yumna and Diba.