Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee has announced an Institute Chair Professorship in the honour and memory of late Professor Anand Swarup Arya on the occasion of his first death anniversary on 1 September with the support of Kaushalya Devi Arya, his wife, and children Arun, Poonam, Anjali, and Anshuli.
Dr Arya was born on 13 June 1931 in village Ambehta in the Saharanpur District of Uttar Pradesh. After his early education, he joined the University of Roorkee (now IIT Roorkee) and obtained BE (Civil engineering) in 1953 and ME (Structural Engineering) in 1954.
He joined the university as a faculty and later moved on to the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, the USA in 1959 where he obtained his Doctoral degree in 1961.
After receiving his Ph.D., Dr Arya returned to the university and was instrumental in establishing an interdisciplinary department of Earthquake Engineering. He rose to the position of Head of Earthquake Engineering Department in 1971, became Pro-Vice-Chancellor in 1988 and continued to serve well beyond his superannuation in 1989 as an Emeritus Professor.
He remained professionally active and served the nation until the very end when he left for the heavenly abode at the age of 88.
During 36years of service, he earned the reputation as a teacher par excellence. His students remember him for the unforgettable lessons in Dynamic Analysis and Design of Structures ranging from small to multi-storeyed buildings, arched and shell structures, bridges, dams and atomic power plants.
During his tenure, he introduced several specialised courses to train professionals on the diverse aspects of earthquake engineering at the University of Roorkee and many other Institutions in India and abroad.
He authored & co-authored numerous papers and several books, many of which were written well after his retirement. The unique feature of his approach as a professional was to engineer innovative and apt practical solutions while addressing complex structural problems despite an uncertain eco-system.
For his outstanding academic, research, and professional contributions, Professor Arya received several national and international honours and awards. United Nations bestowed upon him DHA-Sasakawa Disaster Prevention Award in 1997.
The Government of India conferred Padma Shri on him in 2002.