List of Banaras Hindu University people

The list of Banaras Hindu University people includes notable graduates, professors and administrators affiliated with Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi. For a list of Vice-Chancellors, see List of Vice-Chancellors of Banaras Hindu University.

Nobel laureates

 * C. V. Raman, the Nobel Prize winner in Physics in 1930 and Bharat Ratna laureate in 1954 (permanent visiting professor at BHU)

Heads of state and government

 * A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, 11th President of India, 2002–2007;Bharat Ratna laureate in 1997 (visiting professor, taught technology at BHU)
 * Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala (B.A. 1934), former Prime Minister of Nepal
 * Krishan Kant (M.Sc.), former Vice President of India
 * Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, first Vice President of India, 1952–1962; second President of India, 1962–1967; Bharat Ratna laureate in 1954 (the Vice Chancellor of BHU from 17 September 1939 to 16 January 1948)

Literature

 * Sitaram Chaturvedi (B.A., M.A., Ph.D.), playwright, academic
 * Janki Ballabh Shastri, Indian Hindi poet, writer and critic, Padma Shri (2010)
 * Atul Kumar Rai ( B. MUS, Tabla ) ( M.P.A. Musicology ) Sahitya Academy Award winner

Politicians

 * Ved Prakash Goyal, politician
 * Rajesh Kumar Mishra, politician
 * Yadunandan Sharma (B.A. 1929), Indian independence activist, farmers' rights activist
 * Shyama Charan Shukla, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
 * Veena Pandey, (B.A., M.A., B.Ed., LLB, Ph.D.), Former M.L.C., National Executive Member, B.J.P. Former Vice President Student Union B.H.U.

Science and technology

 * Prem Saran Satsangi Sahab, Leader of Radhasoami Faith, Dayalbagh. System Scientist and Physicist. (Ex Dean IIT Delhi, EX-Vice chancellor, Dayalbagh Educational Institute )
 * Ashok Agarwal (B.Sc. 1975, M.Sc. 1977, Ph.D. 1983), pioneer in reproductive biology
 * Girish Saran Agarwal (M.Sc.), physicist specialising in quantum optics; Regents Professor in the Department of Physics of Oklahoma State University; winner of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (Physics) in 1982; elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 2008
 * Pulickel Ajayan (B.Tech. 1985), pioneer in nanotechnology
 * Nikesh Arora (B.Tech. 1989), senior vice president and chief business officer at Google
 * Meenakshi Banerjee, scientist
 * Bir Bhanu, (B.Tech. 1972), Electronics Engineering, Bourns Presidential Chair in Engineering and Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of California, Riverside, California
 * Alok Bhattacharya, Parasitologist and Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
 * Nishith Gupta (M.Sc. 1999), molecular biologist
 * Achal Das Bohra (B.Sc. 1941), government administrator, engineer
 * S. Ganesh (PhD 1996), molecular geneticist, N-Bios laureate
 * Vinod Kumar Gaur, seismologist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
 * Kota Harinarayana (B.Tech. 1965), scientist, academic
 * Aldas Janaiah (Ph.D. 1995), agricultural scientist
 * Arvind Mohan Kayastha (B.Sc. 1979, M.Sc. 1982, Ph.D. 1988), scientist, academic
 * Akhlesh Lakhtakia (B.Tech. 1979, D.Sc. 2006), pioneered sculptured thin films
 * Subhash Chandra Lakhotia, cytogeneticist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
 * Devendra Lal, geophysicist; winner of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (Physics) in 1967; elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1979
 * Shrikant Lele, metallurgical engineer, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
 * Anand Mohan (B.Sc. 1976, Ph.D. 1983), geologist
 * Basanti Dulal Nagchaudhuri (B.Sc. 1936), physicist
 * Nishtala Appala Narasimham (M.Sc. 1945, Ph.D. 1952), physicist
 * Jayant Vishnu Narlikar (B.Sc. 1957), theoretical physicist, Padma Vibhushan (1965)
 * Paramasivam Natarajan, photochemist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
 * Sri Niwas, geophysicist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
 * Ganesh Prasad Pandey, organic chemist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
 * Virendra Nath Pandey, Molecular virologist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
 * T. V. Ramakrishnan (B.Sc. 1959, M.Sc. 1961), theoretical physicist; winner of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (Physics) in 1982; elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 2000
 * Shyam Sundar Rai, seismologist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
 * Madisetti Anant Ramlu, founder and first Head of the Department of Mining Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)
 * Ayyagari Sambasiva Rao, founder of ECIL
 * C. N. R. Rao (M.Sc. 1953), chemist; scientific advisor to the Prime Minister of India; Bharat Ratna laureate in 2014
 * Ram Harsh Singh, Padmashri awardee 2016, ABMS 1961(BHU), MD(Hons), Ph.D. 1969 (BHU), D.Litt. FNA IM, Life-time Distinguished Professor, Faculty of Ayurveda BHU, First Vice Chancellor, Rajasthan Ayurved University, Jodhpur (2003–2006).
 * Narla Tata Rao, former chairman of the Andhra Pradesh State Electricity Board
 * Palle Rama Rao (Ph.D.), metallurgist and Padma Vibhushan awardee
 * Patcha Ramachandra Rao (M.Sc. 1965, Ph.D. 1968), metallurgist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate, Vice Chancellor of BHU
 * Udipi Ramachandra Rao (M.Sc. 1952), space scientist, Chairman of ISRO
 * N. A. Ramaiah physical chemist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
 * Gangadhar J. Sanjayan, bioorganic chemist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
 * Mushi Santappa, polymer chemist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
 * Debi Prasad Sarkar, Immunologist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
 * Jagdish Shukla (B.Sc. 1962, M.Sc. 1964, Ph.D. 1971), meteorologist
 * Lalji Singh, molecular biologist, Vice Chancellor of BHU
 * Nagendra Kumar Singh (B.Sc. 1978, M.Sc. 1980), agricultural scientist; pioneer in mapping plant genomes
 * Rishi Narain Singh, geophysicist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
 * Manick Sorcar (B.Tech.), artist, engineer, entrepreneur
 * Brahm Shanker Srivastava, microbiologist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
 * Onkar Nath Srivastava (MSc 1961 and PhD 1966), material physicist and a recipient of Padma Shri and Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
 * M. J. Thirumalachar, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
 * Satish K. Tripathi (B.Sc., M.Sc.), President of University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
 * Prahalad Chunnilal Vaidya, physicist and mathematician; proponent of Vaidya Metric for gravitational fields; Vice Chancellor of Gujarat University
 * A. N. Rai ex vc NEHU
 * Sandeep Verma, bioorganic chemist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
 * Kameshwar C. Wali (M.Sc.), research physicist and science writer
 * Saket Kushwaha (B.Sc. 1983, M.Sc. 1986, Ph.D. 1992), agricultural economist, VC Rajiv Gandhi University
 * Jay Chaudhry (B.Tech. 1980) Founder & CEO, Zscaler

Arts, humanities and social sciences

 * Adya Prasad Pandey, Professor in Economics and Former Head Department of Economics, Vice Chancellor Manipur University
 * Anant Sadashiv Altekar, Manindra Chandra Nandi Chair of Ancient History & Culture; led archaeological excavation of Mauryan era structures
 * Chandrakala Padia, professor, political science, noted political scientist
 * C. V. Chandrasekhar, Professor of Performing Arts; Bharata Natyam dancer; Sangeet Natak Akademi Award winner; Kalidas Samman and Padma Bhushan awardee
 * A.K. Chatterjee, Professor of philosophy, Indian philosopher and Buddhist scholar
 * Sitaram Chaturvedi, Professor of Literature, playwright
 * Amiya Kumar Dasgupta, Professor of Economics (1947–1958); pioneer of economics in Independent India
 * Girija Devi, Professor of Performing Arts; Hindustani classical vocalist
 * Julius Getman, Visiting professor of Law
 * Chandradhar Sharma Guleri, former Manindra Chandra Nandi Chair in Ancient History and Religion
 * Latika Katt, Professor of Visual Arts; sculptor
 * Sucheta Kripalani, Professor of Constitutional History
 * Dalsukh Dahyabhai Malvania, Jain scholar, writer and Padma Bhushan awardee
 * Lalmani Misra, Professor of Music; Hindustani classical musician
 * Ram Shankar Misra, Professor of Comparative Religion
 * Awadh Kishore Narain, Professor of History (1947–1960); Manindra Chandra Nandi Chair of Ancient History & Culture (1960–1971)
 * B.C. Nirmal, Professor of Law
 * N. Rajam, Professor of Performing Arts
 * S. R. Ranganathan, Professor of Library Science (1945–1947); inventor of colon classification and five laws of library science
 * Ritwik Sanyal, Professor of Performing Arts; Hindustani classical musician
 * Ram Chandra Shukla, Professor of Visual Arts; painter
 * Ramchandra Shukla, Professor of Literature
 * Gurbachan Singh Talib, Professor of Sikh Studies
 * Omkarnath Thakur, Professor of Performing Arts; Hindustani classical musician
 * Koushal Kishor Mishra, Professor of Political Sciences, and Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences
 * Alok Kumar Rai, Professor of Management Studies

Science and technology

 * Prem Saran Satsangi Sahab, Leader of Radhasoami Faith, Dayalbagh. System Scientist and Physicist. (Ex Dean IIT Delhi, EX-Vice chancellor, Dayalbagh Educational Institute )
 * Sir Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar, Professor of Chemistry (1921–1924); co-inventor of Bhatnagar-Mathur Magnetic Interference Balance; founding chairman of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
 * Patcha Ramachandra Rao, former Vice Chancellor and Professor of Metallurgy and Material Science
 * Prafulla Kumar Jena, former professor of Metallurgical Engineering
 * Prakash Chandra Sood, Padma Shri, Nuclear scientist, researcher, and Professor
 * Madhu Sudan Kanungo, Professor of Biology (1962–2011); pioneer of gerontology; Padma Shri awardee
 * Arvind Mohan Kayastha, Professor of Biotechnology
 * Shrikant Lele, metallurgical engineer, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
 * Veer Bhadra Mishra, former professor of Civil Engineering; environmentalist; founder of Swatcha Ganga Campaign
 * Ganesh Prasad, Professor of Mathematics (1917–1923); mathematician
 * Palle Rama Rao, Professor of Metallurgy (1962–1982); scientist; Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan awardee
 * Birbal Sahni, Professor of Botany (1920); authority on plant fossils of Gondwana and Jurassic age
 * Ram Harsh Singh Padmashri awardee 2016, ABMS 1961(BHU), MD(Hons), Ph.D. 1969 (BHU), D.Litt. FNA IM, Life-time Distinguished Professor, Faculty of Ayurveda BHU, First Vice Chancellor, Rajasthan Ayurved University, Jodhpur (2003–2006).
 * Onkar Nath Srivastava Professor of the department of physics, material physicist and a recipient of Padma Shri and Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
 * Birendra Bijoy Biswas, lecturer (1952–54); department of botany, recipient of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
 * Jamuna Sharan Singh, ecologist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize recipient
 * Kamanio Chattopadhyay, materials engineer, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize recipient
 * Sunit Kumar Singh, molecular biologist, Fellow of Indian Academy of Neuroscience (FIANS)
 * Anil Kumar Tripathi (BSc, MSc, PhD; director Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali