With effect from today, that is October 31, 2009, Dr. K Radhakrishnan, the highly-distinguished technocrat, has assumed office as the Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), after taking charge from Dr. G Madhavan Nair who retired today.

The 60-year-old Dr. Radhakrishnan has been a member of the Space Commission since October last year. Before his latest appointment as the ISRO Chairman, Dr. Radhakrishnan was serving as the Director and Senior Space Scientist at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram.

During the course of his illustrious 38-year career in the fields of space technology, applications and space programme management, Dr. Radhakrishnan has played a notable role in many of ISRO's coveted projects, including the newest Chandrayaan-I mission.

Dr Radhakrishnan began his career as an Avionics Engineer at VSSC in 1971 after an Electrical Engineering degree from Kerala University in 1970. He did MBA in 1976 from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore; and was awarded PhD from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, in 2000.

Assuming office as the ISRO Chairman, Dr. Radhakrishnan, who will also be the Chairman of Space Commission, and the Secretary of the Department of Space, said: "It is with high hopes and great expectations that I am taking over this responsibility. I am confident that we will be able to achieve our goals with the dedicated work and support of the entire team of ISRO."