Achievers of the Department

 

  The importance of Geology in Civil Engineering was first realized way back in the mid 19th century and first Professor of Geology and Experimental Science Prof. Henry Benedict Medlicott was appointed in the year 1855. It was Prof. H. B. Medlicott who first coined the term Gondwana in 1872 for the coal bearing formations of India.
The Department of Geology and Geophysics was established in the year 1960 with founder Head (1960-1978) Prof. Rajendra Singh Mithal. Later the name of the department changed to Department of Earth Sciences in the year 1983. Prof. Mithal was a great visionary and true educationist. He was also Pro-Vice Chancellor and Vice Chancellor of then University of Roorkee.
Prof. K. K. Singh was one of the founders of this department. Later, he became Vice-Chancellors of Jiwaji University, Gwalior (1990-94) and Vikram University, Ujjain.
Prof. Vinod K. Gaur is among the most well known earth scientists in the world. Former Professor and first Dean Research of IITR (then University of Roorkee). Presently, he is CSIR Distinguished Professor at Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore. He was conferred Edward A. Flinn III award by the American Geophysical Union in 2001, prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in 1979, National Mineral Award for Excellence in 1996, Fellow of several academies along with several other laurels. A unique combination of rich scientific research and science administration. Prof. Gaur had been Director, NGRI, Hyderabad and Secretary to the Govt. of India for the Dept. of Ocean Development. 
Padam Shri recipient Prof. Harsh Gupta is well known seismologist of the world. He did Ph.D. from this department. Presently, he is Raja Ramanna Fellow at National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad and Member, National Disaster Management Authority, New Delhi. He retired as Secretary to Govt. of India for the Dept. of Ocean Development. Earlier, Prof. Gupta had been Director, NGRI, Hyderabad; Adviser, Department of S&T, New Delhi; VC, Cochin University of S&T; Director, Centre for Earth Science Studies. Fellow of several academies along with several other laurels including fellow of the third world academy of sciences.
Dr. Saleem Romani did M.Sc. from this department in the year 1968. Later, he joined Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and reached to top position as Chairman CGWB. He did Ph.D. from Barkatulla University, Bhopal in 1991. He held positions as Chairman / Member of various Ministerial / Inter-Ministerial committees / sub-committees concerning water management & domain expert in groundwater. Participated as a  member of Indian  delegation to Bangladesh,  World Water Forum Kyoto and  Sweden.
Dr. Gopal Dhawan did M.Tech. in 1979 and later joined NHPC Ltd in 1980 and has over 32 years of experience in Engineering Geology and Geotechnics.  Dr. Dhawan acquired the key post of Executive Director in NHPC and recently he joined as CMD, Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited (MECL), Nagpur. Recipient of CBIP “Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Research Award” in 2004 for contribution in promoting Engineering Geology in National Development. He is also recipient of Award for “Outstanding Contribution in the field of Rock Mechanics & Tunneling Technology” for the year 2008, by Indian Society of Rock Mechanics & Tunneling Technology (ISRMTT), India.
Sri Sushil Gupta M.Tech. in Applied Geology with Honors (Gold Medalist) from University of Roorkee (now IIT, Roorkee) in the year 1974 and joined Central Ground Water Board in the year 1977. After holding various field assignments in many parts of India, he is currently working as Chairman, Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and Central Ground Water Authority. Sri Gupta has vast experience in Hydrogeological surveys, Aquifer Mapping and Management, Exploratory drilling for ground water, detailed ground water budgeting for the purpose of planning and development of ground water resources including pollution aspects and management of the ground water resources.