Academic Leadership & Supervision

A cornerstone of higher education in Odisha

Over four decades he built strong mathematical institutions, mentored generations of researchers, and advocated for academic autonomy — as scholar, department head and institutional leader.

Dr. Das releasing a publication on stage with colleagues at Vani Vihar, Utkal University

Institutional building & governance

Foundational positions

Across premier universities, scientific bodies and national committees.

Vice-Chancellor, Utkal University (1998–2001)

Spearheaded university reforms, prioritised campus academic culture, advocated for institutional autonomy, and streamlined postgraduate research administration.

Chairman, Institute of Mathematics and Applications, Bhubaneswar

Shaped IMA's foundational research mandate and established facilities for advanced mathematical studies in Odisha.

Head of Department — Sambalpur (1971–79) and Utkal (1979–98)

Modernised curricula, built strong postgraduate departments and opened active international research collaborations. Also served as Chairman of the Board of Studies, Chairman of the P.G. Council, Professor-in-charge of the Library, Warden of P.G. Hostels, and Member of the Syndicate, Academic Council and Senate.

UGC Mathematics Panel — Member (1994–97), Convener (1997–2000)

Directly influenced national curriculum frameworks and UGC research-funding policy; Member of the UGC Curriculum Development Committee.

Orissa Mathematical Society

Co-founder; Vice-President and later President (2000–02); Chief Editor of the Journal of the Orissa Mathematical Society and editorial board member of Ganita Bichitra; Regional Coordinator of the Indian National Mathematical Olympiad (INMO).

Faculty Leadership

President of the Sambalpur University Teachers' Association, the Utkal University Teachers' Association and the All Orissa University Teachers' Federation.

Membership of professional bodies

Life Member, Indian Mathematical Society
Life Member, Orissa Mathematical Society
Elected Fellow, Forum d'Analystes
Member, American Mathematical Society
Reviewer, Mathematical Reviews
Chief Editor, Journal of Functional Analysis and Approximation

Mentorship philosophy & pedagogy

How he taught

Rigorous problem selection: He encouraged doctoral scholars to tackle open, unsolved problems in classical analysis — Banach limits, Tauberian constants — rather than incremental topics.
Grassroots talent identification: He used regional Mathematical Olympiad summer camps to discover mathematical talent among school students and guided them through higher education.
Research monographs: In retirement he compiled monographs — such as Banach Limits with Prof. S. Nanda — to gather decades of scattered functional-analysis literature for early-career researchers.

Dr. Das with students and colleagues at a departmental gathering

Dr. Das with a large group of students beside a bus on an excursion

Dr. Das on the dais at a conference on Geometry and Topology at IMA Bhubaneswar

Doctoral supervision & academic lineage

31 Ph.D. scholars

Dr. Das established major research schools in Analysis, Functional Analysis and Approximation Theory across Eastern India. Many of his scholars became university professors, department chairs and national research fellows.

#	Scholar	Major topic	University	Year
1	Prof. S. Nanda	Functional Analysis and Sequence Spaces	Sambalpur University	1971
2	Dr. S. L. Mishra	Functional Analysis and Sequence Spaces	Sambalpur University	1972
3	Dr. P. Mohapatra	Quasi-matrix Transformation	Sambalpur University	1972
4	Dr. P. C. Mohapatra	Summability of Fourier Series	Sambalpur University	1975
5	Dr. S. K. Mishra	Sequence Spaces	Sambalpur University	1981
6	Dr. B. K. Patel	Ergodic Theorems	Sambalpur University	1981
7	Dr. S. K. Sahu	Banach Algebra of Matrix Transformation	Sambalpur University	1983
8	Dr. N. Guru	Summability	Sambalpur University	1985
9	Dr. J. P. Debata	Fixed Point Theorems	Utkal University	1986
10	Dr. A. K. S. S. V. K. Rao	Sequence Spaces	Utkal University	1990
11	Dr. K. C. Panda	Summability of Fourier Series	Utkal University	1991
12	Dr. S. Mohanty	Probability Theory	Utkal University	1994
13	Dr. Tulika Ghosh	Approximation	Utkal University	1995
14	Dr. A. K. Ojha	Approximation	Utkal University	1997
15	Dr. Sangita Mishra	Approximation	Utkal University	1997
16	Dr. Manoja Manjari Swain	Fixed Point Theory	Utkal University	1997
17	Dr. Ram Chandra Dash	Approximation	Utkal University	1998
18	Dr. Bijay Mohanty	Fourier Series	Utkal University	1998
19	Dr. Minati Mohapatra	Approximation	Utkal University	1998
20	Dr. Sudhakar Sahoo	Fourier Series	Utkal University	1998
21	Dr. Anusaya Nath	Approximation	Utkal University	2000
22	Dr. Laxmidhar Giri	Almost Convergence	Utkal University	2002
23	Dr. G. K. Panda	Approximation	Utkal University	2004
24	Dr. B. N. B. Ray	Approximation	Utkal University	2005
25	Dr. Sumitra Patel	Operator Theory	Sambalpur University	2005
26	Dr. Nandita Tripathy	Approximation Theory	Utkal University	2006
27	Dr. Pratima Sarangi	Approximation Theory	Utkal University	2007
28	Dr. Meenakhi Dash	Approximation Theory	Utkal University	2007
29	Dr. Nihar Satpathy	Differential Geometry	Utkal University	2008
30	Dr. Bichitra Pani	Approximation Theory	Utkal University	2008
31	Dr. Ajay Singh	Approximation Theory	Utkal University	2008