Background
Pental, Deepak was born in 1951.
Vice Chancellor professor of Genetics
Pental, Deepak was born in 1951.
Pental completed his Bachelor of Science(Honours) and Master of Science(Honours) from the Department of Botany, Panjab University, Chandigarh in 1971 and 1973 respectively. And subsequently he did his Doctor of Philosophy from Rutgers University, United States of America in 1978.
He is a noted researcher whose current research interests lie in development of transgenics and marker-assisted breeding of crops. He took charge of the post of Vice-chancellor of the University succeeding Professor Deepak Nayyar on 1 September 2005. As the Venture capital, Pental has outlined his agenda to update the library system, work on teachers’ recruitment, increase student accommodation facilities and bring researchers working abroad to India.
Pental was a Postdoctoral and University Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham from 1978-1984.
He returned to India to join Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI) in 1985 and in 1993 he joined the University of Delhi, South Campus as Professor of Genetics. Pental had been Director of the University of Delhi, South Campus from 2000-2005.
From 2005-2010 he was the Vice-Chancellor of the University. Pental’s research interests lie in breeding of mustard and cotton.
He has published more than sixty research papers in the national and international peer reviewed journals and his work has led to major breakthroughs in hybrid seed production technologies.
Pental is a keen student of social science policy particularly related to the field of agriculture. Years back Pental got Punjab University medal for diploma in Gandhian Philosophy which shows his interest in social sciences and Gandhian thought. Some of his works are described below: “Development of Transgenics in Four Major Crops – Cotton, Rice, Mungbean and Tomato for Resistance to Biotic Stresses” funded by Department of Biotechnology (Dialectical Behaviour Therapy).
“Functional Genomics in Plants: Development and Use of the Technologies for Gene Discovery and Expression Modulation” funded by The New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative (NMITLI).
Edited a special issue of Current Science (Volume(s) 84, 2003) on Transgenic Crops. He also contributed three articles in the same volume.
Contributed an article “Transgenic Crops for Indian Agriculture: An Assessment of Their Relevance and Effective Use” in ‘Policy and Institutional Issues and Challenges in Indian Agriculture’ ed: Doctor Ramesh Chand, Oxfam, In Press.
Elected member of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, Indian Academy of Sciences and the Indian National Science Academy. Member of various Project Advisory Committees in Department of Science and Technology and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy from 1986 onwards. Member of Royal Automobile Club of CIMAP and IHBT.