Dr. Prem Krishna, born in Roorkee on March 28, 1938, received his school education in Nainital and Mussoorie, Bachelor in Civil Engineering (1959), and Masters in Structural Engineering (1961) from the University of Roorkee (now Indian Institute of Technology-Roorkee), and PhD (1964) from the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, in the emerging area of cable suspended roof systems. He then joined the faculty of civil engineering at the University of Roorkee from where he formally retired in 1998.
Dr. Krishna has made significant contributions in the area of structural engineering analysis and design, particularly for long span cable suspended bridge and roof structures, wherein his work is recognised as being pioneering, both within the country and outside. He also has to his credit research, development and organisational work in wind engineering, which he initiated in the mid-70s at the University of Roorkee, where the first large boundary layer wind tunnel was developed (1980) with his initiative. The facility provided the much-needed support to the civil engineering industry dealing with wind sensitive structures.
He was elected President of the International Association of Wind Engineering for a four-year term in 1991 and was the Founder-President of the Indian Society of Wind Engineering (1993-2000).
Dr. Prem Krishna continues to serve the profession in different aspects. He is the Chairman of the Research Council of the Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee, since April 2010, and is Vice President of the Indian National Academy of Engineering, since January 2008. He is also associated with a number of pathbreaking and challenging industrial projects in the area of wind and structural engineering.
Dr. Krishna was honoured by the Indian Institute of Roorkee with the distinguished alumnus award in November 2012.
