(L to R) Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor of Space Studies, Mike Gaffey and Santhosh Seelan, Professor and Chair - Department of Space Studies, University of North Dakota; Photo Courtesy: http://und.edu/

Dr. Santhosh Seelan is a member of the Space University Administrative Committee for the International Astronautical Federation, the Director of North Dakota’s NASA EPSCoR, as well as being the Professor and Chair of the Department of Space Studies and the Director of North Dakota’s Space Grant Consortium – he has recently been nominated to the privileged group of Chester Fritz Distinguished Professors at the University of North Dakota (UND).

Born in Tamil Nadu, Dr. Seelan has worked as Project Director of the Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) data distribution, as well as the Prime Minister’s Task Force on providing drinking water to rural India, among other accolades. He has lived in five countries throughout his career.

With a BSc in Geology from Annamalai University in Tamil Nadu, Dr. Seelan went on to complete an MSc in Applied Geology from IIT Bombay; he also holds a PG Diploma from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; and has completed Practical Training in Remote Sensing from the Free University of Berlin.

The Chester Fritz endowment enables professors such as Dr. Seelan to continue their research while teaching students. The fund was established by Chester Fritz, who attended UND from 1908-1910; he because an international trader, spending most of his life in China in Europe – but his gift remains with the poignant words, “I am especially indebted to the fine teachers who, in the end, have determined in large measure how well I was able to learn and to use the knowledge that the University of North Dakota could provide.”

An expert in satellite remote sensing, Dr. Seelan has worked on launching a geospatial lab under the UND Upper Midwest Aerospace Consortium, as well as leading a NASA sponsored project on Crop and Range Alert System to promote geospatial technologies among farmers in the U.S. Midwest.

A promoter of university research collaboration, Dr. Seelan has promoted UND-India Collaboration Initiatives  - which offers opportunities to UND faculty to teach short courses in India, as well as students to come and “study abroad” in India - build research collaboration and student recruitment. This Indo-US project is led by Amrita University in India, Department of Science and technology and Department of Space in India with corporate partners that include Microsoft.

Tags: Space, Santhosh Seelan, University of North Dakota, Amrita University, NASA, Space Studies