Sunanda Basu is an internationally recognised expert in the area of ionospheric scintillation. Along with her husband Santimay Basu, she has made cutting edge research contributions to every aspect of the field. Their notable work includes studies on diverse natural irregularity formation processes at high, middle and low latitudes, as well as artificial turbulence generation through high-power high frequency (HF) radio wave interactions.
Sunanda started her research career in India, and has worked in the US for many decades. After Santimay’s demise in 2013, she continued her career, with greater emphasis on philanthropy within the US and in developing countries, including Africa. In 2014, she endowed a gold medal and prize in memory of her husband Santimay, to be given to an early-career scientist at the General Assemblies of the International Scientific Radio Union (URSI). In 2021, Ashoka University established the Sunanda and Santimay Basu Chair for teaching and research in astrophysics.
