Prof Baidyanath Misra (1920 – 2019)
Prof Misra received his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Ravenshaw University, followed by a Master of Arts degree from the University of Allahabad, and was the topper at both the institutions. He was also the first Odia topper of the Faculty of Arts and the Department of Economics of Allahabad University. He completed another master’s degree in Economics from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania on a Fulbright Scholarship, where he studied under the Nobel laureate, Simon Kuznets. After returning to India, he did a PhD from Utkal University.
Having started his career as a lecturer in Ravenshaw College, he moved to Utkal University as a professor and the Head of the department of Analytical & Applied Economics. He served as the Vice-Chancellor of the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology from 1981 to 1985. During his tenure as the VC of OUAT, he established the College of Engineering and Technology, Bhubaneswar, College of Agriculture, Sambalpur, College of Home Science, Bhubaneswar, and the College of Fisheries, Ganjam. He headed the Odisha State Planning Board from 1985 to 1990. In 1987, he founded the Nabakrushna Choudhury Centre for Development Studies (NCDS), in Bhubaneswar, which is jointly funded by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), Government of India, and the Government of Odisha. He has served as the Deputy-Chairman of Odisha State Planning Board, Chairman of Odisha’s First State Finance Commission, Secretary of Odisha State Welfare Board, founder Secretary and President of Orissa Economics Association. He has 16 books in English and 20 in Odia to his credit. He is the recipient of several awards and honours for his contributions