31 Notable alumni of
Utkal University
Updated:
Utkal University is 1564th in the world, 349th in Asia, and 37th in India by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 31 notable alumni from Utkal University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Dharmendra Pradhan
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Dharmendra Pradhan is an Indian politician who is serving as the 9th Minister of Education since 2021. He previously held cabinet positions as Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas (2014–2021), Minister of Steel (2019–2021), and Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (2017–2024). Pradhan represents the Sambalpur in the Lok Sabha as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He has also served as a Rajya Sabha member from Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.
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Girish Chandra Murmu
- Occupations
- civil servant
- Biography
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Girish Chandra Murmu is a retired Indian Administrative Service officer of Gujarat cadre who has served as 14th Comptroller and Auditor General of India from 2020 to 2024 and as the external auditor of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. He served as chairman of the United Nations Panel of External Auditors and the Asian Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions. He is currently the external auditor of the WHO (2020-2023), succeeding the Auditor General of the Philippines. He was the Inaugural Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir till 6 August 2020. He is a 1985 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre and was principal secretary to Narendra Modi during his tenure as the Chief Minister of Gujarat.
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Subroto Bagchi
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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Subroto Bagchi is an Indian entrepreneur who is the co-founder of Mindtree, an Indian technology MNC.
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Lokanath Behera
- Years
- 1961-.. (age 65)
- Occupations
- police officer
- Biography
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Loknath Behera is a retired Indian Police Service (I.P.S.) officer. He was state police chief and director general of police of the Kerala State Police, and is the former director of Vigilance in the state of Kerala, after T. P. Senkumar IPS was reappointed as the Kerala state police chief and director general of police following the verdict of the honorable Supreme Court of India. Behera is from Odisha. He was one of the founding members of the National Investigation Agency (NIA). He was also instrumental in modernizing the Kerala police, equipping it with modern vehicles and state-of-the-art small arms and non-lethal weaponry.
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Bhartruhari Mahtab
- Occupations
- newspaper editorpolitician
- Biography
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Bhartruhari Mahtab is an Indian politician from Odisha. He served as the pro tem speaker of the Lok Sabha from 24th June, 2024 to 26th June, 2024 after the 2024 Indian general election. He has been a member of Lok Sabha from 1998 to 2024 as member of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD). Ahead of the 2024 elections, he quit BJD and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is awarded with Sansad Ratna awards in 2025 for his excellence performance in parliamentary duties.
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Janaki Ballav Patnaik
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Janaki Ballabh Patnaik was an Indian politician who had been 25th Governor of Assam from 2009 to 2014. A leader of the Indian National Congress, he was Chief Minister of Odisha from 1980 to 1989 and again from 1995 to 1999, holding that post for the longest time on record before Naveen Patnaik. In 1950, he became the President of the Odisha state unit of the youth wing of the Congress. In 1980, he became the Union Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation and Labour from 16 January to 7 June.
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Arindam Roy
- Years
- 1984-.. (age 42)
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Arindam Roy is a politician and actor who works predominantly in Odia cinema apart from a few Bengali films.
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Sarojini Sahoo
- Occupations
- writerjournalistessayistphilosopher
- Biography
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Sarojini Sahoo is an Indian feminist writer, a columnist in The New Indian Express and an associate editor of Chennai-based English magazine Indian AGE. She has been enlisted among 25 Exceptional Women of India by Kindle Magazine of Kolkata. and is an Odisha Sahitya Academy Award winner.
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Sitakant Mahapatra
- Occupations
- translatorpoetliterary criticwriter
- Biography
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Sitakant Mahapatra is an Indian poet and literary critic in Odia as well as English. He served in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) from 1961 until he retired in 1995, and has since held ex officio posts such as Banking Ombudsman of Odisha and Chairman of National Book Trust, New Delhi etc.
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Jayanti Patnaik
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Jayanti Patnaik was an Indian politician and social worker. She was the first Chairperson of the National Commission for Women. Her term of office was from 3 February 1992 to 30 January 1995.
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Bijoy Mohapatra
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Bijoy Mohapatra is a politician from Odisha. A leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, he was Irrigation Minister of Odisha from 1990 to 1995 in the Biju Patnaik cabinet. He was the most powerful minister (known as Super Chief Minister) in Biju Patnaik's cabinet. He was four times MLA from Patkura Constituency of Kendrapara district. He won four straight elections in 1980, 1985, 1990 and 1995.
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Pratap Sarangi
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Pratap Chandra Sarangi is an Indian politician from Balasore, Odisha. He serves as a National Executive Member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a member of parliament from the Balasore Lok Sabha constituency in Odisha. He was the Minister of State in the Government of India for Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (2019-2021) and a two-time member of the Odisha Legislative Assembly from Nilgiri (2004-2014). Sarangi was Odisha's state unit chief of the Bajrang Dal when Graham Staines, an Australian Christian Missionary, and his two minor children were burnt alive by the members of the right-wing outfit in 1999. Later he was involved in 2001 Odisha Assembly attack.
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Manasi Pradhan
- Occupations
- human rights defenderpoetwriter
- Biography
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Manasi Pradhan is an Indian women's rights activist and author. She is the founder of Honour for Women National Campaign, a nationwide movement to end violence against women in India. In 2014, she was conferred with Rani Laskhmibai Stree Shakti Puraskar by the president of India. Along with Mary Prema Pierick, global head of the Missionaries of Charity, she won the 'Outstanding Women Award' in 2011.
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Gopal Ballav Pattanaik
- Occupations
- judge
- Biography
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Gopal Ballav Pattanaik is an Indian lawyer and later a jurist who served for 19 years on the bench of the Odisha High Court as a permanent judge, as chief justice of Patna High Court, judge of the Supreme Court of India and as the 32nd Chief Justice of India.
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Prafulla Kar
- Occupations
- composerlyricist
- Biography
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Prafulla Kar was an Odia musician, singer, lyricist, writer and columnist. He was also famous for his Odissi Music recital. He received Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award by the Government of India in 2015 for his contribution in the field of arts.
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Oopali Operajita
- Occupations
- dancer
- Biography
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Oopalee Operajita is a classical Odissi and Bharatanatyam dancer and choreographer. As well as the chair and founder of the Al Gore Sustainable Technology Venture Competition. The competition is named for former U.S. vice president Al Gore but operates without his involvement.
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Prasad Kumar Harichandan
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Prasad Kumar Harichandan also known as Prasad Harichandan is an Oriya politician and the former president of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee, known for revolutionary slogan, "ମୁଁ ନୁହେଁ, ଆମେ". He is the son-in-law of comedian-cum-politician Sura Routray.
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Baidyanath Misra
- Enrolled in Utkal University
- Graduated with Doctor of Philosophy in economics
- Occupations
- writereconomistadministratoreducational theorist
- Biography
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Baidyanath Misra was an Indian economist, educator, author, and administrator from the state of Odisha. He served as the Vice-Chancellor of the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Deputy-Chairman of Odisha State Planning Board, Chairman of Odisha's First State Finance Commission, Secretary of Odisha State Welfare Board, founder Secretary and President of Orissa Economics Association, and the founder Director and Chairman of Nabakrushna Choudhury Centre for Development Studies. He wrote 16 books in English and 20 in Odia. He was also a columnist in several leading Odia journals and newspapers. He organised several camps across Odisha, for helping the cause of the poor and downtrodden.
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Tapan Kumar Pradhan
- Occupations
- civil servantpoetwritertranslator
- Biography
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Tapan Kumar Pradhan is an Indian poet, writer and translator from Odisha. He is best known for his poem collection "Kalahandi" which was awarded second place in Sahitya Akademi's Golden Jubilee Indian Literature Translation Prize for Poetry in 2007. His other works include "Equation", "I, She and the Sea", "Wind in the Afternoon" and "Dance of Shiva".
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T. K. Chand
- Years
- 1959-.. (age 67)
- Occupations
- chief executive officer
- Biography
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Dr. Tapan Kumar Chand is an Indian mining veteran, executive, and author. He is the Resident Director of Vedanta Limited. He was the chairman cum managing director of National Aluminium Company. NALCO is the largest integrated aluminium unit in Asia and is also one of the largest aluminium complexes of the world. He has been in the mining and metal sector since 1982, earlier serving as the director commercial of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited / Visakhapatnam Steel Plant and Director Personnel & Director I/c (Sales & Marketing), of Central Coalfields Limited.
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Sruti Mohapatra
- Occupations
- Social Service
- Biography
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Sruti Mohapatra is a disability inclusion expert. Her expertise is in inclusive education and inclusive disaster management and planning.
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Dash Benhur
- Occupations
- writerchildren's writer
- Biography
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Jitendra Narayan Dash, who writes under the pseudonym of Dash Benhur is a Sahitya Akademi award winner writer from Odisha. He was born in Khandapada in Nayagarh district, Odisha. He retired as the Principal of Samanta Chandra Sekhara College, Puri. He is a founder member of Aama Odisha.
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Subrat Kumar Prusty
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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Subrat Kumar Prusty is an Indian Odia-language scholar, activist, social entrepreneur, literary critic and author. He is Member Secretary of the Institute of Odia Studies and Research, Bhubaneswar, Odisha. He was instrumental in preparing the research documents, advocating the awarding of Classical Language status to Odia, forming Central Institute of Classical Odia, Odia University and implementation of the Odisha Official Language Act, 1954. He was awarded the Presidential Certificate of Honour and Maharshi Badrayan Vyas Samman – 2019 for Classical Odia.
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Hussain Rabi Gandhi
- Years
- 1948-2023 (aged 75)
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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Hussain Rabi Gandhi was an Indian Odia writer of the late-twentieth century, a politician, a public intellectual and a cultural activist hailing from the Indian state of Odisha. Being a founder member of Biju Janata Dal, he served as the general secretary of the party from upon its formation in 1998 till 2005. In 1994 the title of Biplabi Loka Kabi was conferred upon him by the Mayor of Cuttack. He was also awarded with the title of Utkala Jyoti in 1996 by the then Deputy chief minister of Odisha, Basant Kumar Biswal on the behalf of Freedom Fighter's Organisation. Gandhi primarily wrote in Odia language and was bestowed with the Secular India Harmony Award in 1993 by the former President of India, Giani Zail Singh and with the Gangadhar Meher Kabita award in 2015 for his notable contributions to the field of Odia poetry. Hussain served as the President of Odisha Sahitya Akademi (2008–2010). He was famously known as the Gandhi of Korei and was regarded as a bridge between Western Odisha and Coastal Odisha. He also served as Lead Member of Smt. Nandini Satpathy Memorial Trust (SNSMT).
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Bhubaneswar Mishra
- Occupations
- university teachercomputer scientistmathematicianresearcherengineer
- Biography
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Bhubaneswar Mishra is an Indian American computer scientist and professor at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences of New York University. He is known for his applied contributions to bioinformatics, cybersecurity, and computational finance. Mishra is listed as an ISI highly cited researcher in Computer Science.
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Debapratim Purkayastha
- Occupations
- teacher
- Biography
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Debapratim Purkayastha was a professor of strategy, academic leader and case method expert.
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Nirad N. Mohapatra
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm directorfilm produceruniversity teacher
- Biography
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Nirad Narayan Mohapatra was an Indian film director. Mohapatra was born in the Indian state of Odisha. He directed the Oriya language film Maya Miriga, television soap operas and documentaries.
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Yashodhara Mishra
- Occupations
- poetshort story writerwriter
- Biography
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Dr. Yashodhara Mishra is a Odia writer and poet. She is a professor of English who has published poems, several collections of short stories and novels. She was a fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study.
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Bhanu Pratap Jena
- Occupations
- university teacherchemistbiologist
- Biography
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Bhanu Pratap Jena is an Indian-American cell biologist and the George E. Palade University Professor and Distinguished Professor of Physiology at the Wayne State University School of Medicine, who discovered porosome in the mid-1990s and demonstrated it to be the universal secretory machinery in plasma membrane.
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Gopala Krushna Rath
- Occupations
- poetlawyerwriter
- Biography
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Gopal Krushna Rath was an Indian Odia poet. He won Sahitya Akademi award for Odia literature in 2014 for his poetry collection Bipula Diganta.
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Uma Charan Mohanty
- Occupations
- climatologistmeteorologist
- Biography
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Uma Charan Mohanty is an Indian meteorologist and an emeritus professor at the School of Earth, Ocean and Climate Sciences of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar. He is the president of Odisha Bigyan Academy and is known for his researches on the Indian summer monsoon. Besides being an elected fellow of the Indian Geophysical Union, he is also an elected fellow of all the three major Indian science academies viz. Indian National Science Academy, Indian Academy of Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences, India. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, for his contributions to Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences in 1993.
