Kumar Bhattacharyya, Baron Bhattacharyya Biography

He was born as Sushanta Kumar Bhattacharyya on 6 June 1940 in Dhaka (then part of British-India). His father was a professor of Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.

Kumar Bhattacharyya, Baron Bhattacharyya excelled in academics and enrolled at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur—one of India’s premier technological research institutes—to study Mechanical Engineering.

After graduation he got an opportunity to become a graduate apprentice at Lucas Industries in the UK. Thus he moved to Britain in 1961.

Kumar Bhattacharyya proved to be a fast learner and displayed a natural flair for business management. Upon the completion of his apprenticeship he was offered the Lucas Fellowship and entered the University of Birmingham from where he earned an MSc in Engineering Production and Management and a PhD in Engineering Production. He was appointed as a Lecturer even before he completed his PhD at Birmingham.

He moved to the University of Warwick in 1980 where he became Professor of Manufacturing Systems. Bhattacharya had plans for establishing a manufacturing education programme for industry which received the support of the Vice-Chancellor, Jack Butterworth.

Kumar Bhattacharyya also decided to provide industry related research services and thus, a centre where academics could collaborate with industrialists for research purposes was opened in January 1990. This centre was a success, and led WMG to expand into other areas like construction, mining, and information and technology.

Kumar Bhattacharyya, Baron Bhattacharyya was a Fellow of The Royal Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering, and a number of other professional bodies, including the Institution of Engineering and Technology, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and Indian National Academy of Engineering.

He also sat on the Labour benches in the House of Lords where he focused on policy areas like business and industry, economy and finance, education, international affairs and science and technology.

Kumar Bhattacharyya was the founder of WMG which is now one of the largest academic departments of the University of Warwick. The group provides degrees for postgraduate students not only at the university campus, but also in overseas centres in India, China, Singapore, Cyprus, Russia and Thailand.

In 1997, he was awarded CBE for Services to Industry and Technology. The same year he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science (DSc) by the University of Technology, Malaysia, where he also held a Honorary Professorship.

Kumar Bhattacharyya was knighted in 2003, for his contribution to the Higher Education and Industry.

Professor Lord Bhattacharyya was married to Bridget and had three children.

Kumar Bhattacharyya, Baron Bhattacharyya died following a short illness, on March 1, 2019. He was 78.