Indian-American physicist makes $11M donation to UCLA

LOS ANGELES (Diya TV) — Mani Bhaumik, an Indian-American physicist, has made an $11 million donation to UCLA to establish a center devoted solely to advancing the knowledge of the basic laws of nature. The gift is the largest donation in the history of the university.

“I thank Mani Bhaumik for his philanthropic leadership and for believing in UCLA,” said UCLA Chancellor Gene Block.

Bhaumik, born into poverty, rose to become one of his generation’s most prominent scientists, and played a major role in the development of laser technology that paved the way for Lasik eye surgery. He was born in the remote village of West Bengal, and shared a mud hut with his parents and six siblings.

“I didn’t own a pair of shoes until I was 16 and walked four miles to school and back in my bare feet,” he added in the UCLA statement.

Studying under the renowned physicist Satyendra Bose, he earned his master’s degree from the University of Calcutta. In 1958, Bhaumik became the first student to earn a doctorate, also in physics, from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur.

He arrived at UCLA in 1959, with just $3 in his pocket, he said. The trip was made possible after his fellow villagers in West Bengal fundraised the money to send him there. In 1961, he joined Xerox Electro-Optical Systems as a laser scientist, and later served as the director of the laser technology laboratory Northrop’s corporate research laboratory.

In 1973, he announced the demonstration of the world’s first efficient excimer laser, a form of ultraviolet laser now commonly used for high-precision machining and for cutting biological tissue cleanly without damaging surrounding tissue.

In 2011, his efforts came full circle when Bhaumik was awarded the Padma Shri for his distinguished service in science and engineering.

“It’s very difficult to raise funds for this area, because people don’t understand what theoretical physicists do. But physics holds the answers to the most fundamental questions of our very existence.Imagine what could be solved right here at UCLA,” he said.

The Mani L. Bhaumik Institute for Theoretical Physics will be constructed with the intent of becoming the world’s premiere center for the research of theoretical physics and intellectual inquiry, the university said. The institute will host visiting scholars, organize seminars and conferences for the academic community and begin a public outreach program to teach the community about scientific advances made by UCLA physicists.