J. Plasma Physics (2013), vol. 79, part 2, p. 119. c© Cambridge University Press 2013

doi:10.1017/S002237781300024X

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Obituary

Padma Kant Shukla 1950–2013R O B E R T B I N G H A M1, B E N G T E L I A S S O N2, T I T O M E N D O N C A3

and L E N N A R T S T E N F L O4

1STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK2Ruhr University Bochum, Germany

3IST Lisbon, Portugal4Linkoping University, Sweden

Professor Padma Kant Shukla passed away on the26th of January in New Delhi, India, just after re-ceiving the prestigious Hind Rattan (Jewel of India)Award. He was born in the village Tulapur, UttarPradesh (UP), India and was educated there. Afterhis Ph.D. in Physics from Banaras Hindu Universityin Varanasi, he obtained his second doctorate degreein Theoretical Plasma Physics from Umea Universityunder the supervision of one of us (Lennart Stenflo).He worked at the Faculty of Physics & Astronomy,Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany since January 1973,where he was a permanent faculty member and Professorof International Affairs, a position that was createdfor him to honour his international accomplishmentsand reputation. Padma was a great friend, colleagueand collaborator. He was passionate about science andhad an infectious enthusiasm that touched everyonewho knew him. Padma was an inspiration to thosearound him and was responsible for discovering andmentoring young scientific talents around the world– national borders were no barriers when it came toscientific collaborations. For this he was honoured withthe 2005 APS Nicholson Medal for Human Outreachby the American Physical Society. Padma also receivedthe prestigious 2006 Gay-Lussac/Humboldt Prize fromthe French Ministry of Education and Research. He isthe First Laureate of the 22nd Khwarizmi InternationalAward from the IROST, Iran. Padma was undoubtedlyone of the world’s most renowned plasma physicists. Hepioneered and developed many plasma physics topicsthat we are researching on today. He had wide rangingresearch interests in multidisciplinary sciences includingbasic and nonlinear physics, nonlinear geophysical flows,atmospheric physics and environmental sciences. He wasa prodigious publisher with more than 1500 authoredpapers and is one of the most cited plasma physicists.His list of honorary appointments are impressive andinclude visiting professorships at the Department ofPhysics, Umea University, Sweden and at the Scottish

Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA) Department ofPhysics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland(UK), as well as a full professorship at GoLP/Centre forPlasma Physics and Nuclear Fusion, IST, Technical Uni-versity of Lisbon, Portugal, an honorary professorshipat the School of Physics, University of KwaZulu-Natal,Durban, South Africa, a distinguished adjunct professor-ship at COMSATS Institute of Information Technology,Islamabad, Pakistan, and an adjunct professorship atNational Physics Centre, Islamabad, Pakistan. He hashonorary doctorates from the Russian Academy of Sci-ences, Moscow and the Technical University of Lisbon,Portugal. In addition, he is Fellow of the AmericanPhysical Society, Fellow of the Institute of Physics (UK),and Corresponding Fellow of the Royal Society ofEdinburgh (Scotland, UK), a Foreign Member of theRoyal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Royal SwedishAcademy of Engineering Sciences, and an AssociateMember of the Academy of Sciences for the DevelopingWorld (Trieste, Italy). Padma was a powerful character,and an extraordinary worker, motivating people aroundhim. He used to say ”You are born to carry out yourwork, without hoping to be rewarded”. And also: ”Donot forget your roots, but adopt the society in which youlive”. His homeland was Germany and Europe, whichhe adopted and where he worked. He was honoured bymany universities and scientific organisations around theglobe. He was not only an excellent teacher and mentor,but was also conscious of giving something back. Since1989, Padma was co-organiser of the plasma physicsactivities (Summer Colleges and Workshops in PlasmaPhysics) at the Abdus Salam International Centre forTheoretical Physics, Trieste (Italy). At the centre, heinteracted with young scientists from all over the world,encouraging them to work on new ideas. This gainedhim respect from all generations for his vision andimagination. We have lost not only a great scientistbut a dear friend. He is survived by his wife Ranjanaand sons Prashant, Predhiman and Pushpesh.