Homi J. Bhabha

Homi J. Bhabha FNI, FASc, FRS[1]
Bhabha c. 1960s
Chairperson of the Atomic Energy Commission of India
In office 1948–1966
Preceded by	position established
Succeeded by	Vikram Sarabhai
Personal details
Born	(1909-10-30)30 October 1909 Bombay, Bombay Presidency, British India
Died	24 January 1966(1966-01-24) (aged 56) Mont Blanc massif, France
Cause of death	Air India Flight 101 crash
Relatives	see Petit family
Alma mater	University of Cambridge (BS, PhD)
Known for	Indian nuclear programme Cascade process of Cosmic radiations point particles Bhabha Scattering Theoretical prediction of Muon
Awards	Adams Prize (1942) Padma Bhushan (1954) Fellow of the Royal Society[2]
Scientific career
Fields	Nuclear physics
Institutions	Atomic Energy Commission of India Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Cavendish Laboratory Indian Institute of Science Trombay Atomic Energy Establishment
Doctoral advisor	Ralph H. Fowler
Other academic advisors	Paul Dirac

Homi Jehangir Bhabha, FNI,^[3] FASc,^[1] FRS^[4](30 October 1909 to 24 January 1966) was an Indian nuclear physicist who is widely credited as the "father of the Indian nuclear programme". He was the founding director and professor of physics at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), as well as the founding director of the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay (AEET) which was renamed the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in his honour. TIFR and AEET served as the cornerstone to the Indian nuclear energy and weapons programme. He was the first chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission and secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy. By supporting space science projects which initially derived their funding from the AEC, he played an important role in the birth of the Indian space programme.

Bhabha was awarded the Adams Prize (1942) and Padma Bhushan (1954), and nominated for the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1951 and 1953–1956. He died in the crash of Air India Flight 101 in 1966, at the age of 56.