INSA Is Electing as Fellows Non-Scientists Who Are Also Important Stakeholders Of Science: Ashutosh Sharma

In a break from tradition, the Indian National Science Academy in 2024 introduced two new categories — Science for Society, and Science in Translation — in order to recognise non-scientists who have played an important role in using science and technology to provide socio-economic opportunities with impact to be elected as Fellows

Social media is abuzz with criticism about Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, being elected this year as a Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi. One scientist called it a “shame for the Indian National Science Academy, the entire scientific community, and to the nation”.

Traditionally, scientist Fellows nominate and elect their peer scientists as Fellows from research institutions and universities based on papers published in scientific journals and contribution to their respective fields of science. In a break from tradition, the Academy in 2024 introduced two new categories — Science for Society, and Science in Translation — in order to accommodate non-scientists who have played an important role in using science and technology to provide socio-economic opportunities with impact to be elected as Fellows.

“The two new categories were operationalised last year and 16 non-scientists were elected as INSA Fellows in 2024. This is the second year where non-scientists, 20 of them, have been elected as INSA Fellows under the two categories,” clarifies Dr. Ashutosh Sharma, President of INSA and Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at IIT Kanpur.

Last year, among the 16 elected, Sudha Murthy, Rajya Sabha MP, and a former Chair of the Infosys Foundation, N.R. Narayanamurthy, Infosys founder and two of his Infosys co-founders, Nandan Nilekani and Krish Gopalakrishnan, and Rajendra Singh, water conservationist and founder of the Tarun Bharat Sangh were elected as INSA Fellows.

“About 20 years ago when Dr R.A. Mashelkar was President of INSA, former President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s nomination was rejected because he did not have many scientific papers published in journals. Now such people who have played a critical role in translating science and technology can be elected as INSA Fellows,” says Dr. Sharma. “Earlier INSA was not counting and electing people who have been important stakeholders of science from private and public science institutions such as DRDO, ISRO to name a few.”  

To be eligible in the Science for Society category, candidates should have done notable scientific work or applied scientific knowledge to combat societal challenges, should have made notable scientific advances as applicable that now have major societal impact, should have either generated or used at-scale scientific solutions to address major problems of different sectors that impact everyday life — energy, water, health, transport, agriculture, environment, climate change, sustainability to name a few, their actions have been implemented with significant impact in addressing societal needs, or should have significant and impactful contributions in popularising science, history and philosophy of science and associated sciences like archaeology, forensic and others as related to society.

To be eligible in the Science in Translation category, candidates should have scientific leadership in science-based innovation, scientific leadership in industrial R&D, scientific leadership in technology missions of national importance, or scientific leadership in the management of scientific institutions.

Fellows elected to INSA effective from January 1, 2026 under the Science for Society category are:

• Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries, Mumbai
• Mandakini Prakash Amte, Social Worker and Medical Officer, Lok Biradari Prakalp, Hemalkasa, Gadchiroli
• Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group, Aditya Birla Centre. Mumbai
• Naushad Forbes, Co-Chairman Forbes Marshall Private Limited, Pune
• Anil Prakash Joshi, Founder,Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organization (HESCO), Dehradun
• Naima Khatoon, Vice-Chancellor,Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh
• Devi Prasad Shetty, Chairman, Narayana Hrudayalaya Limited, Narayana Health City, Bengaluru
• Sumant Sinha, Chairman and CEO of ReNew Power’s Founder, New Delhi
• Saurabh Srivastava, Former Chairman of NASSCOM and Founder Chairman of Indian Angel Networks (IAN), New Delhi, and
• Renu Swarup, Former Secretary, Department of Biotechnology

Under the Science in Translation category, the following people have been elected as Fellows:

• Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons and Tata Group, Mumbai
• Anand Suresh Deshpande, Chairman and Managing Director, Persistent Systems Limited, Bhageerath, Pune
• Sindhu Gangadharan, Senior Vice-President and Managing Director, SAP Labs India Private Limited, Bengaluru
• Nadir Burjorji Godrej, Managing Director, Godrej Industries Limited, Mumbai
• Babasaheb Neelkanth Kalyani, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Forge Limited, Pune
• Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science & Technology
• Ajit Kumar Mohanty, Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy
• SB Ravi Pandit, Chairman, KPIT Technologies Limited, Pune
• Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Professor Emeritus, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Madras, and
• Rohini Srivathsa, Chief Technology Officer for Microsoft India and South Asia