The International Core Academy of Sciences and Humanities (CORE Academy) is pleased to highlight the election of Professor C. N. R. Rao as a Fellow of the Academy (Division: Natural Sciences).
Widely regarded as one of the world’s most influential solid-state and materials chemists, Professor Rao’s career has shaped how modern science understands—and designs—the functional behavior of materials, from transition-metal oxides and correlated electron systems to nanomaterials and energy-relevant solids.
Academic interests and research vision
Professor Rao’s scholarship spans solid-state and materials chemistry and structural chemistry, with major research themes including: transition-metal oxides and other extended inorganic solids; metal–insulator transitions; colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) materials; superconductivity; multiferroics; nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes and graphene; and materials approaches to artificial photosynthesis and hydrogen generation (photocatalytic and thermal).
Across these domains, his work exemplifies a rare synthesis of chemical intuition, structural understanding, and materials functionality—advancing the field’s capacity to connect how matter is built with what matter can do.
Scientific contributions: from foundational chemistry to enabling technologies
Over decades of sustained originality, Professor Rao has contributed to the development of modern materials chemistry through:
Pioneering studies on transition-metal oxides, illuminating structure–property relationships central to electronic and magnetic behavior in complex solids.
Seminal contributions to superconducting oxides and related perovskite materials, strengthening the solid-state chemical foundations needed to understand and optimize high-temperature superconductors.
Leadership in nanomaterials and two-dimensional materials, including influential work on graphene and carbon nanotubes that helped clarify their potential for future devices.
Energy-frontier materials research, encompassing metal oxides and 2D systems for renewable-energy and energy-storage directions—recognized internationally through major scientific awards.
His scholarly output is extraordinary in scale and impact: he is credited (in a recent academic biodata) with over 1,774 research papers and 54 books, alongside 84 honorary doctorates from universities worldwide.
Service to the international scientific community and to society
Professor Rao’s influence extends far beyond the laboratory. He has served in pivotal national and international roles that strengthened scientific institutions, expanded research capacity, and advanced global scientific cooperation. In India, he held major leadership positions including President of the Indian Academy of Sciences (1984–1985) and President of the Indian National Science Academy (1989–1991), and he served as Chairman of the Science Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India (1985–1989; 2004/2005–2014), contributing at the highest level of national science policy and strategic research planning.
Internationally, he has taken on influential responsibilities within the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) (including serving as President) and as President of TWAS (The World Academy of Sciences), promoting a vision of scientific excellence that is global in both participation and benefit. In parallel, he built enduring platforms for collaboration at home and abroad: he founded the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (1989) and later established and led the International Centre for Materials Science as Founder-President/Chair—institutions designed not only to advance frontier research, but also to host international exchanges and shared scientific training.
In these capacities, he has consistently translated scientific achievement into lasting institutional capability—linking disciplines, countries, and generations, and affirming that advanced science should be a shared human endeavour rather than a privilege of geography.
(Image from the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, where Professor Rao founded the institution and currently serves as Research Professor and Honorary President)
Distinguished honors and global recognition
Professor Rao’s contributions have been recognised by many of the world’s most selective academies and by numerous landmark honours. He is a Fellow or foreign/elected member of leading national academies and learned societies, including the Indian Academy of Sciences, the Indian National Science Academy, and The Royal Society (London), as well as the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Japan Academy, and the Russian Academy of Sciences. He is also a Foreign Associate of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, along with memberships in several other major academies worldwide.
Among his most celebrated distinctions are the Bharat Ratna (India’s highest civilian honour), the Royal Medal of The Royal Society, the Von Hippel Award (Materials Research Society), the Dan David Prize (Science—Future Dimension; materials science), the Eni Award (Energy Frontiers), and international state honours including Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun (Gold and Silver Star). His global standing is further reflected in the breadth of academic recognition: he has received honorary doctorates from 84 universities, including the University of Oxford, Purdue University, Northwestern University, the University of Manchester, the University of St Andrews, Stellenbosch University, and others.
He has also held distinguished visiting and honorary appointments at leading universities, including roles at the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford, alongside long-term visiting and adjunct positions in the United States and elsewhere.
A Fellow whose work embodies “Advancing Knowledge for Humanity”
In welcoming Professor Rao, the International Core Academy of Sciences and Humanities celebrates a life of science that has continuously enlarged both knowledge and possibility: deepening the foundations of materials chemistry, mentoring and inspiring scientific communities, and strengthening the civic and international institutions through which science serves society.
We warmly welcome Professor Rao to the Fellowship of the Academy, and look forward to future dialogues and collaborations that reflect his enduring commitment to scientific excellence and global scientific fellowship.
Professor C.N.R. Rao's Profile Page: https://www.coreacad.org/Member.aspx?ProId=188