Dr. Pawan Sharma is a professor of chemistry at the Central University of Haryana, Mahendergarh. Previously, he was a professor of chemistry, dean of research & development, and dean of students’ welfare at Kurukshetra University, Haryana. He is passionate about teaching chemistry, and believes chemistry is not simply a body of knowledge but also a way of thinking.
Dr. Sharma has visited six continents and many countries, including the U.S. on a Fulbright-Nehru International Education Administrators Seminar grant (2019). He is a recipient of the prestigious Srinivasa Ramanujan Birth Centenary Award gold medal (2018-2019) by the Indian Science Congress Association. He also received a bronze medal (2018) from the Chemical Research Society of India. He has over 130 research publications in journals of international repute and has also been granted patents.
In his ten months as Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence at Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, Dr. Sharma will be teaching one course per semester, bringing diversity to the curriculum in terms of perspectives in teaching and cross-cultural communication. He will deliver public lectures to share with the campus and the community his experience of going to the Antarctic region, highlighting the implications of the formation of an ozone hole over Antarctica. He also hopes to engage with secondary school students in the area for ‘Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE)’. He aspires to strengthen the ties between Wesleyan University and higher education institutions in India.