Ram Harsh Singh

Biography

R. H. Singh was born on 10 January 1942 in Kaniyari pur village of Mau district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and graduated in Ayurveda Medicine and Surgery (ABMS) from Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in 1961 with first rank. He started his career as a faculty member at his alma mater, BHU, in 1964 and served the institution for four decades during which period he held various posts such as that of a Reader (1973–85), Professor, Head of the department of Kayachikitsa (1985–2003) and the Dean of the Faculty (2001–03). During the early stages of his career, he continued his studies and secured a doctoral degree (PhD) in 1969, and the degree of DLitt in 1982, his guide for both the programs being K. N. Udupa, the pioneer of integrative medicine and the founder director of the Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University. In 2003, when the Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Rajasthan Ayurved University was established at Jodhpur, he was appointed as its founder vice chancellor. and served at the post till 2006. He also serves as a visiting professor at the College of Ayurveda of Mount Madonna Institute, USA.

Singh is the founder president of the Association of Ayurvedic Physicians of India and a former chairman of the scientific advisory board of the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences, an autonomous body under the Ministry of AYUSH. He is also a member of the National Commission on History of Science of the Indian National Science Academy. His researches on Ayurveda have been documented by way of over 200 research papers and 15 text books, which included Body Mind Spirit: Integrative Medicine in Ayurveda, Yoga and Nature Cure and The Foundations of Contemporary Yoga and Yoga Therapy. He is also associated with several alternative medicine journals such as Innovare Journal of Ayurvedic Sciences where he is a member of the editorial board and has mentored more than 100 post graduate and 35 doctoral students.

Awards and honors

Singh received the Professor C. Dwarkananth Memorial Award of the Indian Association for the Study of Traditional Asian Medicine (IASTAM) in 2004 and the next year, he received two more awards, the Dhanwantri Award and the Ayurved Piyushpani Award of All India Ayurvedic Congress of 2005. Lifetime achievement Award of Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (MGIMS) reached him in 2007, the same year as he was made the Emeritus Professor of Banaras Hindu University; he also received the Distinguished Alumnus Award of the university in 2008. The All India Ayurved Academy has made him a Jewel Member and he is an elected fellow of the National Academy of Indian Medicine and a National Professor at the Ministry of AYUSH of the Government of India. The Open International University for Alternative Medicine (OIUAM) (Medicina Alternativa), Alma Ata has honored him with a doctorate (honoris causa) and the Government of India awarded him the civilian honor of the Padma Shri in 2016. He has also received such honors as Hari Om Ashram Award of the Medical Council of India, Vd. Ram Narayan Sharma National Research Award, Asian Medicine Jivak Award, Purna Swasthya Award, Piyus Pani Award, Gyan Kalyan Trust Award of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Captain Sri Niwas Murthy Gold Medal and Sri Ram Narayan Sharma Best Teacher Award.