Khagol Bulletin # 131

Professor Tanuka was a Fellow of the West Bengal Academy of Science and a member of several organisations, including the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the Astronomical Society of India, and the International Astrostatistics Association. A visiting associate of IUCAA since 2002, she was a close friend and collaborator of several IUCAA members. During her visits to IUCAA, she inspired all the students she interacted with. She is well known for her pioneering work in applying statistical methods to astronomy research andwas instrumental in promoting Astronomy in IndianUniversities. Shewill be greatlymissed. The IUCAA family is saddened by the untimely passing of Professor Tanuka Chattopadhyay (née Kanjilal) on 16 October 2023, at the age of 60, after a long and heroic battle with cancer. Professor Tanuka was a Professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics at the University of Calcutta. She was earlier the Head of the Department and Dean of the Faculty of Science at Calcutta University. At her demise, she was the Director of theUniversity's Center for Research inNanoscience andNanotechnology. Professor Tanuka Chattopadhyay completed her PhD under the supervision of Professor Baidyanath Basu on the topic, 'Explosion in the central region of the Galaxy, the consequent star formation, formation of molecular clouds and structure of shocks'. With an impressive publication record, including four books and fifty papers in international journals, Professor Tanuka completed several national and international funded projects and frequently visited several leading universities in Canada, France and the USA. The results of her work have been recognised with an outstanding publication award in Astrostatistics. The implications of her research are significant for the field of astronomy and statistics. She supervised several PhD students and was a respected teacher andmentor. Professor Tanuka worked on various topics, namely, molecular clouds, star formation and density waves in the Galaxy. In later years, she worked on globular clusters, galaxies with special interest in dwarf and ultra-compact galaxies, gamma-ray bursts, statistical simulation and computation. Obituary Professor Tanuka Chattopadhyay | 18 | KHAG L | No. 131 - JANUARY 2024