Deputy Director of National Institutional Oceanography (NIO) Shri. R.R.
Nair retired from office on 30 April'97 after serving the NIO for 31 years.
Nair also served as Head of the Geological Oceanography division at NIO.
Born at Ahmedabad, Nair did his schooling at St. Xavier's High School.
He graduated in Geology with a gold medal from the Gujarat University. On
completion of his master's degree in marine geology from Andhra University,
Nair spent two years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA for
advanced studies.
On returning to India in 1964, Nair joined the core group of the International
Indian Ocean Expedition. He was amongst the first to join the National Institute
of Oceanography when it was established in 1966.
Nair's most significant contribution has been in the field of marine sedimentary
processes and mineral exploration in the Indian Ocean. He has led many projects
both national and international.
He led a number of oceanographic expeditions and was an active sea-goer.
Nair was responsible for the installation of the 'Hydrosweep', a state of
the art multibeam sonar equipment on ORV Sagar Kanya. He was also coordinator
of a number of projects sponsored by industries such as ONGC, NPC, Mangalore
refineries, etc.
Nair was a member of several national and international oceanographic bodies
and was on the editorial board of two scientific journals. He has over 80
publications in national and international journals, supervised 12 PhD theses
and has co-authored two books.
Recognising his contributions in the field of marine sciences, Nair was
felicitated in October 1996 during the International Symposium on Geology
and Geophysics by Union Minister of State for Law and Justice Ramakant Khalap
and Deputy Chief Minister Dr. Wilfred de Souza.