Ruchi Ram Sahni (1863-1948) was the first person from Punjab to make a career in science . He was the first Indian officer in the India Meteorological Department (1885). Moving by choice to teaching, he became the first Indian science professor at Government College Lahore which he served from 1887 till his retirement in 1918. The University instituted Ruchi Ram Sahni Declamation Contest Prize in his honour. He is also India’s first nuclear scientist who published two research papers in 1915 and 1917 working in the laboratory of Ernst Rutherford in Manchester where he interacted with Niels Bohr. (Interestingly, in his laboratory work , he was assisted by his son Birbal Sahni, the well known pale botanist, who was at the time studying in Cambridge.) Sahni entered Punjab Legislative Council as a member of the Swaraj Party. Ruchi Ram was a conscientious and inspiring teacher who spent six months learning carpentry for the sake of laboratory work.He was an enthusia
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