Blog's

2024: Ecologist Madhav Gadgil Honored With ‘Champions of The Earth’ Award

Gadgil was born on 24 May 1942 in Pune, in the western Indian state of Maharashtra. His parents were Pramila and Dhananjay Ramchandra Gadgil, a Cambridge scholar, economist, former director of the Gokhale Institute, and author of the Gadgil Sutra.

He received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Fergusson College, Pune University in 1963, and a bachelor’s degree in zoology from the University of Mumbai in 1965. Gadgil, who was an active sportsman during his college days, held the Sakit jump records at Maharashtra State Junior and Pune University in 1959 and 1961 respectively.

Madhav Dhananjay Gadgil is an Indian archaeologist, educationist, author, columnist, and the founder of Matribhasha Vigyan Kendra, a research platform at the Indian Institute of Science. He is a former member of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India and the head of the 2010 Western Ghats Consultative Expert Group (WGEEP), popularly known as the Gadgil Commission.

Gadgil has been awarded the Wolf Environmental Award and the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian award of Padmashree in 1981 and the third highest civilian award of Padmashree in 2006.

“They were awarded Champions of the Earth in 2024”.