List of Panjab University people explained

This is a list of people affiliated with the Panjab University. The list excludes people whose only connection with Panjab University is that they were awarded an honorary degree.

Faculty

!Name!Affiliation!Notability!References

B. N. Goswamy	Professor of Art History	art historian known for his study of Indian miniature paintings	^[1]
Bidyendu Mohan Deb	Professor of theoretical chemistry between 1984 and 2004	theoretical chemist, chemical physicist and a professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata
Kare Narain Pathak	Vice-Chancellor (2000-2006) and Professor of Physics (1970-2001)	Condensed matter physicist, Former Vice-Chancellor & Professor Emeritus at Panjab University. UGC Emeritus Fellow	^[2]
Kewal Krishan (forensic anthropologist)	Professor and former Chair of the Department of Anthropology	An academic known for contributions to forensic anthropology in India

Alumni

Arts and literature

Name	ClassYear	Degree	College	Notability	References
Ayushmann Khurrana				actor and singer
Babbu Maan				Indian Punjabi singer and poet
Gul Panag				actress and model	^[3]
Irshad Kamil				noted Bollywood lyricist, poet and winner of Filmfare and IIFA Awards.
Jaspal Bhatti				Satirist and TV personality	^[4]
Kapil Sharma				Indian Comedian
Kanika Mann				Television and film actress
Mahie Gill				an actress who appears in Hindi films and Punjabi films.
Mukesh Gautam				Punjabi cinema director
Nuruddin Farah	1970			Somali novelist
Priyakanta Laishram		B.A (Sociology Honours)		actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter and film editor.	^[5]
Satinder Sartaaj				Indian Punjabi singer and poet
Shilpa Anand		Masters in Computer Applications (MCA)		model, actress and software developer	^[6]
Sunil Grover				Comedian
Anupam Kher				Actor
Harnaaz Sandhu		B.A. M.A.	PGGC Sector 42 Chandigarh	Model who won Miss Universe 2021 Title	^[7]
Rajesh Hamal				Actor

Business

Name	ClassYear	Degree	College	Notability	References
F. C. Kohli				first CEO of TCS. Considered as Father of Indian Software Industry	^[8]
Pratip Chaudhuri		1974	UBS	Chairman of the State Bank of India
Sandeep Bakhshi			Punjab Engineering	MD & CEO, ICICI Bank
Steve Sanghi	1975		Punjab Engineering	CEO of Microchip Technology
Sunil Bharti Mittal				Founder, chairman and Group CEO of Bharti Enterprises	^[9]

Humanities and social sciences

Name	ClassYear	Degree	College	Notability	References
Harjinder Singh Dilgeer				National Professor of Sikh History, an authority on Sikh history, philosophy and scriptures; writer of Sikh History in 10 Volumes, Translator of Guru Granth Sahib (in English), creator of Navan Te Vadda Mahan Kosh (4 volumes, 2748 pages), plus writer of 60 books; presently Director of G.N. Research Institute, Birmingham, England.
Kavita Singh	1996	PhD		Professor and Infosys Prize winner	^[10]
Romila Thapar				prominent Historian

Politics and law

Heads of state and government

!Name!ClassYear!Degree!College!Notability!References

Baburam Bhattarai	1977	B. Arch.	Chandigarh College of Architecture	36th Prime Minister of Nepal
Manmohan Singh	1952; 1954	BA (Economics); MA (Economics)		13th Prime Minister of India	^[12]

Other politicians, civil servants, and lawyers

Name	ClassYear	Degree	College	Notability	References
Amit Rawal		LLB	Department of Laws	Judge of Kerala High Court
Bhupinder Singh Hooda				former Chief Minister of Haryana
Dalvir Singh Khangura
Deepak Anand	www.deepakanandmpp.ca	M.B.A		Canada Politician
Jagdish Singh Khehar	1977; 1979	LLB; LLM		44th Chief Justice of India	^[13]
Jai Ram Thakur				Chief minister of Himachal Pradesh
Kiran Bedi,	1970			first woman IPS Officer
Krishan Kant Paul,				former IPS who is current governor of Uttrakhand and former governor of Meghalaya;executive director of UN Women
Lakshmi Murdeshwar Puri		M.A.		India's Ambassador to Hungary (with accreditation to Bosnia and Herzegovina), 19992002; UN Director of UN-OHRLLS, 20092011; Assistant Secretary-General for Intergovernmental Support and Strategic Partnerships at UN Women, 2011 until her retirement.	^[14] ^[15] ^[16]
Mehr Chand Mahajan				Third Chief Justice of India and former Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir
Rajiv Pratap Rudy				former Union minister	^[17]
Selja Kumari				MP/Union Minister
Sherub Gyeltshen		BA		Member of the National Assembly of Bhutan and Minister for Home and Cultural Affairs
Subodh Kumar Jaiswal		M.B.A		CBI Director
Sukhbir Singh Badal				Member of Parliament
Sukhpal Singh Khaira				Member of the Legislative Assembly, Punjab, India
Sunil Arora				IAS officer and Election Commissioner of India	^[18]
Sushma Swaraj				Minister of Foreign Affairs
Swatanter Kumar				former Judge, Supreme Court of India
William Gitau		B.Com.		1st Governor of the Kiambu County
Parminder Singh Brar		LLB, MBA		politician, sports administrator and lawyer

Science and technology

Name	ClassYear	Degree	College	Notability	References
Ajay Kumar Sood	1971; 1972	BSc; MSc
Atul Gurtu				high energy physicist
G. V. R. Prasad				paleontologist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
K. K. Aggarwal				engineer, professor and eminent IT expert	^[19]
Kalpana Chawla		BE	Punjab Engineering^[20]	NASA Astronaut. Died on 1 February 2003 in Space Shuttle Columbia accident^[21]
Manohar Lal Munjal				acoustical engineer, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
Narinder Kumar Mehra	1969	B.Sc.		immunologist
Radhe Mohan				scientist, former Chairman of Medical Physics at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center	^[22]
Rajinder Kumar	1954	B.Sc.		chemical engineer, former professor at the Indian Institute of Science; Padma Bhushan recipient
Ranbir Chander Sobti	1969; 1970; 1974	B.Sc.; M.Sc.; Ph.D.		Cell biologist and Padma Shri awardee
Sampat Kumar Tandon				geologist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
Sardul Singh Guraya	1954; 1956; 1959	B.Sc.; M.Sc.; Ph.D.		developmental biologist and Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize recipient
Sunil Saigal	1978		Punjab Engineering	professor and a former dean of the Newark College of Engineering at NJIT
Satinder Vir Kessar	1953			organic chemist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
Veena Tandon	1967; 1968; 1972	B.Sc.; M.Sc.; Ph.D.		parasitologist and Padma Shri recipient
Yash Pal	1949	M.Sc.		scientist and educator	^[23]

Sports

!Name!ClassYear!Degree!College!Notability!References

Anjum Moudgil			DAV	shooter	^[24] ^[25]
Malaika Goel			DAV	shooter
Neeraj Chopra			DAV	track and field athlete; olympic games 2021 gold medalist winner in javelin throw, medalist in the Asian and Commonwealth games	^[26]
Nripjit Singh Bedi	1958			volleyball player
Ravi Bhardwaj		MBA		basketball player	^[27]
Yashaswini Singh Deswal			DAV	shooter

Others

Name	ClassYear	Degree	College	Notability	References
Vandana Shiva	1972	BSc		environmental activist
Shekhar Gupta				Renowned Journalist, Founder and Editor-in-chief ThePrint
Tarun Tejpal				founder-editor Tehelka	^[28]

References

Citations

Notes and References

1. Book: Who's who of Indian Writers, 1999: A-M. Kartik Chandra Dutt. Sahitya Akademi. 1999. 9788126008735. 413 of 1490. 2019-05-14.
2. Web site: K.N. Pathak. 2022-01-22. ResearchGate. en.
3. Web site: About Gul Panag. gulpanag.net. https://web.archive.org/web/20100704210017/http://www.gulpanag.net/about_gul_panag.php. 4 July 2010. dead. 26 June 2011. dmy-all.
4. Web site: Distinguished Alumni. Department of Alumni Relations, Panjab University. https://web.archive.org/web/20180302172750/http://alumni.puchd.ac.in/distinguished-alumni.php. 2018-03-02. dead. 2019-05-13.
5. News: 9 May 2023 . Priyakanta Laishram: Torchbearer of Manipur queer cinema . Northeast Now . 10 May 2023.
6. News: Shilpa Anand is not a B-grade actress . The Times of India . TNN . Prerna Shah . 13 August 2007 . 10 January 2023.
7. Web site: 2021-12-13. Miss Universe Harnaaz lives up to her name, family elated in Punjab. 2021-12-15. Hindustan Times. en.
8. Web site: Businessweek. Bloomberg L.P.. 24 October 2017.
9. Web site: Alumni-Sunil Mittal. Bharti Airtel.
10. Web site: Infosys Prize - Laureates 2018 - Prof. Kavita Singh. www.infosys-science-foundation.com. 2019-10-04.
11. News: 'Yaaro ka yaar' Capt Vikram Batra remembered by family, teachers, friends. Kapur. Aarti. The Tribune. 1 March 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171024100916/http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/chandigarh/community/-yaaro-ka-yaar-capt-vikram-batra-remembered-by-family-teachers-friends/111522.html. 2017-10-24. live. 26 July 2015.
12. Web site: About Department of Economics. Economics Department, Panjab University.
13. News: Jagdish Singh Khehar 1st Sikh to be sworn-in as the Chief Justice of India. 2017-01-04. Business Standard India. 2019-12-15.
14. Web site: Ms Lakshmi Puri appointed UN-OHRLLS director. 2020-06-23. UN-OHRLLS. en.
15. Web site: Lakshmi Puri: Equal Means Equal . EqualMeansEqual.com . 18 August 2021 . 7 February 2016.
16. Web site: UN Department of Public Information. Secretary-General Appoints Lakshmi Puri of India Assistant Secretary-General for Intergovernmental Support and Strategic Partnerships, UN Women . 11 March 2011. 8 March 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120308194014/https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/sga1283.doc.htm . 16 March 2012 . Secretary-General Press Press Doc ID: SG/A/1283 BIO/4274 WOM/1857 .
17. Web site: Made in Chandigarh: Panjab University groomed me for politics, says MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy. 2018-06-22.
18. Web site: Election Commissioner - Shri Sunil Arora. Election Commission of India. September 30, 2017.
19. Web site: Prof. K. K. Aggarwal. centumu.edu.in. 26 June 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110806172815/http://www.centumu.edu.in/node/92%26format%3Dlight. 6 August 2011. dead.
20. The Punjab Engineering College was affiliated to the Panjab University between 1953 and 2003.
21. Web site: Alumni-Kalpana Chawla. Tripod.com.
22. Web site: Radhe Mohan - MD Anderson Cancer Center. faculty.mdanderson.org. 24 October 2017.
23. Web site: Space Applications Centre. sac.gov.in. 26 June 2011.
24. Web site: 'I'm happy my record can never be broken' Chandigarh News - Times of India. May 3, 2018. Arsh. Behal. The Times of India. en. 2019-12-15.
25. Web site: 4 DAV College-10 shooters all set for World Cup. 2015-08-05. Hindustan Times. en. 2019-12-15.
26. Web site: World record holder Neeraj Chopra gets Army job, starts supporting farmer father - Times of India. The Times of India. https://web.archive.org/web/20180123162618/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com//sports/more-sports/athletics/world-record-holder-neeraj-chopra-gets-army-job-starts-supporting-farmer-father/articleshow/57604623.cms. 2018-01-23. live. 2019-05-11.
27. Web site: The big leap: Cager from Chandigarh wins India colours. 2016-07-08. Hindustan Times. en. 2019-12-15.
28. News: Tarun Tejpal Editor-in-chief, Tehelka.com. 2 July 2001. Business Week.