Chancellor’s Profile

Born on 12th December 1947, Dr. Gautam is an Agricultural graduate (1968) from Agricultural College Solan (HP) and M.Sc. (1970) and Ph.D. (1974) in Genetics from Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi.

 Services Rendered: He joined his service career as Assistant Professor Plant Breeding at GB Pant University on 16 Sept 1974. He subsequently served as Associate Professor Plant Breeding, Associate Director Crop Research Centre, and Joint Director/Associate Dean Hill Campus Ranichauri of this University. He occupied important positions in the country, viz., Chairperson, Protection of Plant Varieties & Framers’ Rights Authority New Delhi (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Govt. of India) and Chairman, National Biodiversity Authority, Chennai (Ministry of Forests, Environment & Climate Change, Govt. of India) in the rank of Secretary to the Govt of India; Vice Chancellor GB Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar, Uttrakhand; Deputy Director General ICAR-Crop Science; National Director ICAR-NATP Project; Director, ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources; Dean, College of Forestry, YS Parmar University of Horticulture & Forestry, Solan (HP); Managing Director, Uttarakhand Seeds & Terai Development Corporation Pantnagar; Chairman Advisory Committee of Patanjali University Hardwar and Vice Chancellor of Career Point University Hamirpur HP. Presently, he is   Chancellor Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University Pusa- Samastipur Bihar, Pro-Chancellor of Career Point University Hamirpur HP, Chairman of Shivshakti School Nihari, Ghumarwin, Bilaspur HP and Chief Patron of Society for Community mobilization for sustainable development. 

Contributions: He is an eminent geneticist and plant breeder associated with the development of twelve improved crop varieties of crops (wheat, foxtail millet, soybean, ricebean, amaranth and buckwheat) and registration of two germplasm accessions of rice. He played an important role in redefining basmati rice in national interests in the light of new breeding tools and IPR regime. Under his leadership, the first post graduate programme in Plant Genetic Resources in India was implemented at IARI in partnership with NBPGR. He initiated the registration of plant germplasm in India and was associated with the drafting and implementation of Biological Diversity and Protection of Plant Varieties & Farmers Rights bills of India. He has contributed significantly to the conservation and management of Plant Genetic Resources including inter alia, mounting special explorations under the aegis of ICAR-NATP national missions on agro biodiversity management and food & nutritional security. His publications covering the fields of Agriculture, Genetics & Plant Breeding, Plant Genetic Resources and Biodiversity.

Member of Delegations: As a member of Indian delegations for negotiations/meetings of International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) of FAO and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) of United Nations Organization, he has played important role in reflecting Indian position in the negotiations. He was one of the champions for inclusion of Famers’Rights in the ITPGRFA and option of country –parties to put moratorium on the terminator gene under Cartagena Biosafety Protocol. He Co-Chaired, 5th Session of FAO-ITPGRFA and served as a nominated member from the Asian Region to the Executive Board of Global Crop Diversity Trust, Germany, 2014-18. He has served as Expert consultant of FAO- ITPGRFA Mission on Plant Genetic Resources to Mongolia and the USAID-CISA/STRASA Project of the International Rice Research Institute. He was a member of Board (Indian side) of Joint Indo-US Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture.

Committee Assignments: He has served with distinction as Chair/Member in different committees of ICAR, CSIR, DBT, DST, ASRB, UPSC, FICCI, ICFRE, FSSAI, Ministries, Universities, etc. He was Chairman of the committees for restructuring of ICAR- AICRPs, Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, State Seed Corporations, ICAR-AICRP and strengthening of IARI as a global University. He has Chaired Research Advisory Committees of many ICAR institutes and served as member of Board of management of seven Universities. He was member of External Advisory Panel of World Bank funded ICAR-Agricultural Higher Education Project. He chaired the committee for review of IARI hubs for ensuring quality education. He is presently a member of University Council of SKUAST, Jammu and committee for evolving ICAR deemed Universities as multidisciplinary education and research universities.

Recognitions and Awards: In a career spanning nearly 50 years, he has made outstanding contributions. He has widely travelled in India and over two dozen countries and has left delightful footprints on the positions held in different systems and organizations. During his tenure as Director and Vice Chancellor, NBPGR and GBPUA&T, Pantnagar, respectively, received ICAR’s Best Institution Awards.

Professional recognition:  He has been conferred the fellowships of Indian Society of Genetics & Plant Breeding (ISGPB) 1979, National Academy of Biological Sciences 2001, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) 20001, Indian Society of Plant Genetic Resources  (ISPGR) 2007, and International Society for Noni Science 2017. He has been conferred Honorary Fellowship of Indian Academy of Horticultural Sciences (2022) and  Indian Society of Plant Genetic Resources (2023) .He was President of two professional societies (ISGPB & ISPGR); Vice President of NAAS (2013-15) & Trust for Advancement Agricultural Sciences (2012-17).

Awards:  The sterling  performance and contributions , Dr Gautam have been verily recognized by conferring  University Medal 1968 (Panjab University Chandigarh) ,Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial Gold Medal  1968 ( Agricultural College Solan HP), Dr. Harbhajan Singh Memorial Award 2001-02 (Indian Society of Plant Genetic Resources), Uttaranchal Rattan 2004 & The Great Son of the Soil 2007 (All India Conference of Intellectuals, Meerut),  Jewel of India Award 2006 (Indian Solidarity Council New Delhi ), Eminent Citizen of India Award 2006 (International Institute of Education & Management N Delhi) , Rashtriya Samman Puraskar 2006 (Indian Society for Industry Intellectual Development New Delhi) ,Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Award 2010 (All India National Unity Conference, New Delhi), Life Time Achievement Awards  2007 & 2012(Society for Mobilization for sustainable development New Delhi &  Agriculture Today New Delhi) ,Indira Gandhi Sadbhavana Award 2015 (International Business Council, New Delhi) Amit Krishi Rishi Award 2016 (Lt Amit Singh Memorial Foundation New Delhi, Certificate of Recognition and plaque (2017) for development of landmark wheat variety UP 262 (Indian Society of Genetics & Plant Breeding, New Delhi) , Dr. S Radhakrishnan Education Excellence Award 2018 (Indian Institute of Oriental Heritage, Kolkata),  Best Indian Golden Personalities Award 2025 (Friendship Forum Regd.., New Delhi) etc.

Honorary degrees: He was conferred honoris causa Doctorate of Science degree from ND University of Agriculture and Technology Faizabad, UP (2018)   and Sher-e- Kashmir University of Agriculture & Technology Jammu (2022) for noteworthy contributions as an institution builder, teacher, researcher, research manager, and guide.