Sankar Kumar Pal

Sankar Kumar Pal
Born1950 (age 75–76)
Kolkata, India
Alma mater
Known for
AwardsPadma Shri, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
Scientific career
FieldsComputer science
InstitutionsIndian Statistical Institute

Sankar Kumar Pal (born 1950) is an Indian computer scientist. He has served as Director and is currently serving as the president of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata. He is an ANRF Prime Minister Professor of the Government of India, currently hosted at IIIT Bhubaneswar.

His research areas include pattern recognition, image processing, fuzzy neural networks, rough fuzzy hybridization, soft computing, granular mining, and machine intelligence. His contributions are focused primarily on fuzzy set theory, neuro-fuzzy, and rough-fuzzy computing for uncertainty modelling, with applications in pattern recognition, image processing, machine learning, knowledge-based systems, and data mining. He founded the Machine Intelligence Unit in 1993 and the Center for Soft Computing Research in 2004, both at ISI.[1]

He received the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in 1990. In 2013, he was awarded the Padma Shri in Science and Engineering by the President of India in recognition of his work in machine intelligence.[2][3]

Education and career

Pal studied at the University of Calcutta, earning a BSc in physics (1969), a BTech (1972), and an MTech (1974) in radio physics and electronics.[4] He received a PhD in radio physics and electronics from the Rajabazar Science College campus of the University of Calcutta in 1979 as a student of Indian Statistical Institute and another PhD in electrical engineering along with the Diploma of Imperial College from Imperial College of Science and Technology, University of London in 1982. His first PhD was in pattern recognition,[5] while the other was in image processing.[6]

After completing his PhD at Imperial College, London as a Commonwealth Scholar, he continued as a postdoctoral fellow from 1982 to 1983 as a UK Medical Research Council Fellow. Subsequently, Pal worked at the University of California, Berkeley and University of Maryland, College Park from 1986 to 1987 as a Fulbright Fellow. He also worked at the NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas from 1990 to 1992 and in 1994 as a US National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council Senior Resident Research Associate, and at the US Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C. in 2004 as a visiting scientist with US ONRIFO (Office of Naval Research International Field Office) Fellowship. He had been a Distinguished Visitor of IEEE Computer Society (USA) for Asia-Pacific Region since 1997 and held several visiting positions in Australia, Poland, Italy, France, New Zealand, Japan and Hong Kong universities. He established sustained research collaborations with many foreign universities, particularly in Europe such as the University of Warsaw, Poland (1997–2017), University of Naples, Italy (2004–2020) and INSEAD, France (2001–2013) under joint agreements between nations or institutes, and Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China (1999–2008).[7][8]

Pal joined the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata, as a CSIR senior research fellow in 1975, and he eventually became a professor in 1987, distinguished scientist (higher than full professor) in 1998, and later served as director from 2005 to 2010 and President from 2022 to 2026.[9] He retired from the Indian Statistical Institute as a distinguished scientist in 2015. He was the first computer scientist, as well as someone outside statistics and mathematics, to become the director of ISI in its 75-year history. He is also the first ex-employee of ISI elected to hold the chair of president of ISI since its inception in 1931.[10][11][12]

According to his official academic profile, Pal has co-authored over 500 research publications, 21 books and 20 conference proceedings,[13] and holds two U.S. patents. He has served, or is serving as, editor for more than 20 scientific journals in computer science and engineering.[12]

His book, "Fuzzy Mathematical Approach to Pattern Recognition,"[14] published by John Wiley and Sons (Halsted Press),[15] in 1986 has been translated into Indonesian and Chinese languages.

Pal has introduced the Soft Computing concept and research in India in the mid 1990s. The Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, established under its IRHPA (Intensification of Research in High Priority Areas) program, the Center for Soft Computing Research (CSCR), a National Facility with Pal as the Principal Investigator, in 2004 at ISI, Kolkata. Subsequently, CSCR became an Associate Institute of ISI in 2010.[12]

During his directorship of ISI (2005-2010), the birthday of Prof. P.C. Mahalanobis, the founder of ISI, was declared by the Prime Minister of India on December 24, 2006, as “National Statistics Day”, to be celebrated every year over the country. Besides, ISI established the ISI-Chennai Center, approved the ISI-North Eastern Center, and replaced UGC-pay scales with higher IISc-pay scales for faculties at ISI during that period.

Pal has served as the founding president of the Indian National Academy of Engineering, Kolkata Chapter.[12] The Biennial International Conference on Pattern Recognition and Machine Intelligence (PReMI) that originated from the Machine Intelligence Unit of Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata in 2005, was initiated by him.

Family

Pal was born on September 13, 1950, to Sunity Kumar Pal and Parul Bala Pal. He is the second of five siblings and has two sons, Dhiman Sankar Pal and Anshuman Sankar Pal, with his wife, Amita Pal.

Awards and recognition

Pal is the recipient of numerous awards and honours including:

Pal is an elected fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The World Academy of Sciences for the Advancement of Science in Developing Countries (TWAS); International Association for Pattern Recognition; International Fuzzy Systems Association; International Rough Set Society; Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association; International Artificial Intelligence Industry Alliance; Web Intelligence Academy (founding fellow); Indian National Science Academy; The National Academy of Sciences, India; Indian Academy of Sciences; and Indian National Academy of Engineering.[10][11] He is an elected foreign member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. Currently, he is the 14th President of Indian Statistical Institute and a vice president of the International Artificial Intelligence Industry Alliance (AIIA).[12] [16]

References

  1. ^ "Biography". www.isical.ac.in. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
  2. ^ a b NetIndian News Network (5 April 2013). "President confers Padma Awards on 54 personalities". NetIndian. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  3. ^ F wire (26 January 2013). "Padma Shri awardee favours honours to scientists". Firstpost. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  4. ^ "Sankar Kumar Pal". Edubilla.com. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  5. ^ Pal, S.K. (1978). Studies on the application of fuzzy set-theoretic approach in some problems of pattern recognition and man-machine communication by voice (Ph.D. thesis). Univ. Calcutta.
  6. ^ Pal, S.K. (1982). Fuzzy set theory in grey tone image processing (Ph.D. thesis). Imperial College London: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.
  7. ^ "European Collaboration". www.isical.ac.in. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
  8. ^ "Complete Bio-Data". www.isical.ac.in. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
  9. ^ "Biography". www.isical.ac.in. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
  10. ^ a b KES International (23–25 June 2010). "Keynote Speakers at KES-AMSTA 2010". KES AMSTA. Archived from the original on 22 September 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  11. ^ a b Springer. "Professor, Pal, Sankar Kumar: SHort Biography". springer.com. Springer Science+Business Media. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  12. ^ a b c d e INSA. "Indian Fellow". Indian National Science Academy. Archived from the original on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  13. ^ "Books Published". www.isical.ac.in. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
  14. ^ Pal, Sankar K.; Majumder, Dwijesh Dutta (1986). Fuzzy Mathematical Approach to Pattern Recognition. Wiley. ISBN 978-0-85226-193-4.
  15. ^ "Publishers - Halstead Press in Sydney and Canberra". Halstead Press. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  16. ^ "Biography". www.isical.ac.in. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.