Darshan Ranganathan

Darshan Ranganathan (June 4, 1941 – June 4, 2001) was an organic chemist from India who was known for her work in bio-organic chemistry, including "pioneering work in protein folding." She was also recognized for her work in "supramolecular assemblies, molecular design, chemical simulation of key biological processes, synthesis of functional hybrid peptides and synthesis of nanotubes."

Biography

Darshan Ranganathan was born on June 4, 1941 to Vidyavati Markan and Shanti Swarup. She was educated in Delhi and received a Ph.D. in chemistry from Delhi University in 1967. First hired as a lecturer, she became head of the Chemistry Department at Miranda College, Delhi, and went on to receive an 1851 Research Fellowship from the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, to enable her to conduct postdoctoral work at Imperial College London with Professor D.H.R. Barton.

In 1970, she began research at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT Kanpur). In that year, she married S. Ranganathan, with whom she would go on to author Challenging problems in organic reaction mechanisms (1972), Art in biosynthesis: the synthetic chemist's challenge (1976), and Further challenging problems in organic reaction mechanisms (1980)—as well as editing an ongoing series titled "Current Organic Chemistry Highlights".