Indian physicist Prof Rohini Godbole has been awarded the ‘Ordre National du Metrite’ National Order of Merit by the government of France. The same was revealed through a tweet by the official Twitter handle of IISC Bangalore, where Prof Godbole teaches at it’s Centre for High Energy Physics.
Congratulating Godbole, IISC said that the Ordre National du Mérite is among the highest distinctions bestowed by France. “She has been recognised for contributions to collaborations b/w France & India and commitment to promoting enrolment of women in science”, tweeted IISC.
Godbole, who is also the recipient of Padma Shri, has been actively advocating for the inclusion of more women in the field of science. In the past, she pointed out that even though more and more women are opting for higher education they are still less in number when it comes to research in science and PhD courses.
She started her life in physics with a Bachelor’s degree in Physics, Mathematics and Statistics from Sir Parshurambhau college of Pune with a first rank in the University going to get an M.Sc. in Physics from IIT ( Mumbai) with a silver Medal and then getting a Ph.D. from S.U.N.Y. at Stony Brook in U.S.A in 1979. The latest degree she got was a D.Litt. (Honoris Causa) by the S.N.D.T Women’s University.
Other than doing physics, she loves talking to young students in schools and colleges about the world of particle physics and also her other interest viz. increasing women’s participation in Science in India. She gives popular talks about physics and about women in science to adult audiences as well. She has been involved in working for women in science for many years.
Dr. Niranjan B Poojar 
Balaji Subramanian