Ranjit Singh Chair
Late Dr. Ranjit Singh (BT/MME/1965) established the Ranjit Singh Foundation at IIT Kanpur that supports Ranjit Singh Chair. Dr. Singh started his career by working in a semiconductor industry in the Silicon Valley and later shifted to Allied Chemicals. He was the leader in developing cubic zirconia in 1979 and soon became a worldwide leader in artificial diamonds. Dr. Singh started his own company, Ranjit Singh Corp. in New Jersey, and was the supplier of artificial diamonds, jewellery and other precious gems. He earned his doctorate from MIT, USA.
Current Occupant
Prof. Manabendra Chandra
(May 2026 - May 2029)
Prof. Manabendra Chandra, from the Department of Chemistry, IIT Kanpur, works in the areas of single-particle spectroscopy and imaging, nanoscale plasmonics, electronic and vibrational strong coupling, plasmon photocatalysis, perovskite materials, nonlinear spectroscopy, nano-bio interfaces, and antibiotic transport in live bacterial cells. He received his Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, in 2009.
Former Occupant
Prof. Krishanu Biswas
(Jul. 2022 - Jul. 2025)
Prof. Krishanu Biswas is a faculty member in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. His research focuses on the solidification of multicomponent alloys, nanostructured materials, and energy materials.
He is a recipient of the Young Scientist Medal from the Indian National Science Academy (2010), the Young Engineer Award from the The Institution of Engineers (India) (2011), and the BOYSCAST Fellowship from the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India (2011). He completed his M.Eng. and Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.