Praveen Chaudhari

Biography

Praveen Chaudhari, known for his work within the field of material physics, was born on November 30, 1937 in Ludhiana, India. He earned his B.S. from the Indian Institute of Technology (1961) and his M.S. (1963) and Sc.D. (1966) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Chaudhari joined IBM's Research Division at the Thomas J. Watson research center in 1966. He spent 36 years at IBM as a scientist and senior manager of research. In 1981 he became a Director, and the following year, Vice President of Science. IBM's science programs grew significantly and the Research division reached many milestones under Chaudhari's leadership. IBM scientists won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1986 and 1987.

In 1991, Chaudhari entered back into full-time research while continuing to serve as senior manager. His work focused on the structure and properties of amorphous solids, mechanical properties of thin films, defects in solids, quantum transport in disordered systems, superconductivity, liquid crystal alignment on substrates, and on the magnetic monopole experiment. Over the course of is career, Chaudhari has authored over 150 papers and holds over 20 patents. His work has garnered numerous awards and honors, including the 1992 IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award.

Chaudhari died on January 12, 2010 in Briarcliff Manor, New York.