Nobel laureate Professor Ada Yonath with former member secretary of Kerala State Higher Education Council Rajan Varughese during her visit to Keralam in 2019.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The academic and scientific community in Keralam has mourned the death of Professor Ada Yonath, the Israeli crystallographer and Nobel laureate in Chemistry, who passed away on Monday (August 31, 2026).
Prof. Yonath shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her pioneering work on the structure and function of the ribosome.
Her association with Keralam was facilitated largely through the Kerala State Higher Education Council (KSHEC) and its Erudite Scholar-in-Residence Programme, which brought nearly 300 internationally distinguished scholars, including around a dozen Nobel laureates, to universities and colleges in the State.
During her visit to Keralam in 2019, she interacted with teachers, researchers and students at Mahatma Gandhi University and Kerala University. Her public lecture at the Senate Chamber of Kerala University was remembered as one of the highlights of her visit.
Rajan Varughese, former member-secretary of the KSHEC and former Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University, recalled Prof. Yonath as an erudite scholar, whose engagement with Keralam went well beyond formal academic programmes.
He said her visits created opportunities for students and researchers to engage directly with a scientist of exceptional international standing and helped strengthen the State‘s academic links with the global research community.
Prof. Yonath maintained her association with Keralam even later. She accepted an invitation to deliver the keynote address at the International Higher Education Conclave in January 2025. Unable to travel because of the conflict in West Asia, she addressed the inaugural session online.
According to former Mahatma Gandhi University Vice-Chancellor Sabu Thomas, the scientist’s engagement with the State also contributed to research networks and collaborations, particularly in chemistry and allied disciplines. He also recalled her willingness to share her scientific experience as a major source of inspiration for the academic community.
Young researchers, including Franklin J., Kairali Research Award recipient and Principal of Sacred Heart College, Thevara, benefited from opportunities to interact and work with her research group, they pointed out.
Published – September 01, 2026 07:47 pm IST