B. Viswanathan has been a scientist and a distinguished teacher for nearly five decades. He is the founding director of National Centre for Catalysis Research (NCCR), India. He has been with the Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, since 1970. His research spans areas such as heterogeneous catalysis, materials science, theoretical chemistry, energy, nanotechnology, and information science. He is also known in the fields of energy and catalysis studies. He has published a number of research papers and books is the author of several unique books including Chemical and Electrochemical Energy Systems, Fuel cells- Principles and Applications, Photo-electrochemistry - Principles and Practices, and Energy Sources. He won several awards and fellowships at the national and international levels. He has been associated with various academic institutions in the capacity of boards of studies and has immensely contributed to chemistry education.
