Born: 28th August 1928
Died: 22 November 2016
Prof. M Govind Kumar Menon was born on 28th August 1928, Mangalore, Karnataka. He did his education i.e B.Sc from Jaswant College, Jodhpur, M.Sc from Royal Institute of Science. Later, he enrolled himself at the University of Bristol, studied Advanced Physics, and obtained his Ph.D. degree in 1953.
At Bristol, Menon worked with the Nobel Laureate Professor CF Powell. His main contributions to the Organisation were dual. He has done his Research Work in Cosmic Rays, Particle Physics. He gave a push to projects where DRDO could contribute effectively, make an outstanding impact, actively encouraged and supported the strategic outlook on the new technology of missile warfare. He also made noteworthy changes in the personnel policy of the DRDO and removed rigidity and inflexibility which were earlier used for characterization. Prof. Menon was an internationally known physicist. He served as the Chairman of Electronics Commission and as a Director at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai. Menon was a member of various commissions such as the Planning Commission (1982-1989), Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister (1986-1989), Vice President, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) (1989-1990), and Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) during 1990-96.He also remained the Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society of London. Prof. M G K Menon was an Advisor in ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization). He was also the President of the Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta (1990- 2016). Prof. M G K Menon had won the Abdus Salam Award and had received several honours including Padma Shri (1961), Padma Bhushan (1968) Padma Vibhushan (1985). In late 2008, the Asteroid 7564 Gokumenon was also named in his honour.