H. C. Verma

Harish Chandra Verma (born 3 April 1952), popularly known as HCV, is an Indian experimental physicist, author and emeritus professor of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. He wrote the book "Concepts of Physics." In 2021, he was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, by the Government of India for his contribution to Physics Education. His field of research is nuclear physics.

He has authored several school, undergraduate and graduate level textbooks. He has been awarded the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Shiksha Puruskar by the Bihar state government. Early life and study Verma was born on 3 April 1952 to Ganesh Prasad Verma, a teacher and Ramvati Verma in Darbhanga, Bihar. He obtained his B.Sc. degree at the Patna Science College. Then he obtained M.Sc. and Ph.D. at the IIT Kanpur.

Career

Patna Science College In early 1980, Verma joined Patna Science College as a lecturer. He retired on 30 June 2017.

Physics outreach

Verma has developed more than six hundred ‘low cost’ physics experiments that teachers can employ in their classrooms. In 2011, he set up the National Anveshika Network of India (NANI), a flagship program of the Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT). He is the national coordinator for this program. There are currently 22 Anveshikas in the country.