The Krothapalli Satyanarayana & Vimaladevi Gold Medal for the B.S (Research) programme at IISc has been instituted by Prof. K. Ravindranath in memory of his parents. The medal will be awarded every year to the B.S (Research) student with highest CGPA, with a major in Biology.
About Krothapalli Satyanarayana
Krothapalli Satyanarayana, an Indian National Army (Aazad Hind Fauz) veteran, was born on 01-06-1918 in Amrutaluru village, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh. He completed a 5-year Industrial School Certificate Course in Mechanical Engineering (07-07-1933 to 17-12-1938) at PSG & Sons’ Charity Industrial Institute, Peelamedu, Coimbatore. He joined the Indian Army’s Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (EME) Division on 19-03-1940 at Jabalpur. He participated in the World War-II operations in ‘Middle East’ (Basrah, Iraq); was confirmed ‘Prisoner of War’ (POW) in German Hands on 03-04-1943 and shifted to Austria. He was ‘Recovered from Enemy Hands’ on 30-04-1945 and ‘Discharged from the Army’ on 26-02-1946. He passed the Automobile Engineering examination of The British Institute of Engineering Technology (BIET), Shakespeare House, Stratford Place, London, was elected to Associate Membership and awarded the Diploma on 28 December 1951. He was recognized as a ‘Freedom Fighter’ by the Govt. of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, and was sanctioned Freedom Fighters’ Pension on 25 August 1973. He died at the age of 57 years on 26 February 1976 in Guntur Town. He is survived by his wife, daughter and son.
About Krothapalli Vimaladevi
Krothapalli Vimaladevi (w/o K. Satyanarayana) was born on 14-09-1930 into an agricultural family in Nidubrolu village, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh. She studied up to 5th Class in the village elementary school (1935-40), but was discouraged from pursuing high school studies. She is a homemaker and is a recipient of the GoI Freedom Fighters’ Family Pension. She is into philanthropy, contributing to the causes of education, healthcare, social & religious traditions, as well as to the armed forces.
About Prof. K. Ravindranath
Prof. Krothapalli Ravindranath was born on 01-01-1950 in Guntur town, Andhra Pradesh. As an NCC Cadet during Pre-University Course, he passed the Senior Division Army Wing Certificate ‘B’ Examination. After graduating in BSc (CBZ) from Hindu College, Guntur, he obtained his MSc (Marine Biology) and PhD Degree from Andhra University, Visakhapatnam. He was a recipient of CSIR Doctoral and Post-Doctoral Fellowships.
He joined the Andhra Pradesh Agriculture University/ Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University, Hyderabad, as Assistant Professor and later served as Associate Professor, Professor and Associate Dean in the then newly carved out Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University, Tirupati. He was the Founder Head of the Department of Aquatic Environment in the College of Fishery Science of the University. He retired as Dean of the Faculty of Fishery Science in the SV Veterinary University.
As a University Teacher, he had offered various Courses, viz., Introduction to Biological Sciences, Meteorology, Oceanography, Marine Biology, Coastal Ecology, Soil & Water Chemistry, Aquatic Pollution, Fish Farm Engineering, Fish Culture, Fish Pathology & Parasitology, Fisheries Economics etc.
Under the ICAR Agricultural Human Resource Development Programme, he underwent advanced training in Aquaculture Pathology at the University of Arizona, Tucson, USA.
He has published 50 research papers in national and international journals, which include Current Science, Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. (Animal Sci.), Indian J. Fisheries, J. Bombay Natural History Society, Crustaceana, J. Aquaculture in Tropics, etc.
After retirement, he served as a Senior Consultant (Tech) for 6 years in the National Fisheries Development Board of the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries, Govt. of India, Hyderabad.
He is into philanthropy and has set up endowment funds to promote academic excellence in various universities, research institutes and professional colleges by instituting awards, scholarships and travel grants. Recently (January 17, 2023), he established the ‘Prof. Krothapalli Ravindranath Foundation’ with the motto of ‘Giving back to society’, within his means.