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Ashok Gadgil Biography: Age, Career, Family and More

F4U Editorial Desk • Updated October 22, 2026 • 4 min read

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Quick Info

Date of birth15 November 1950

Age74 Years

BirthplaceMumbai, Maharashtra, India

ProfessionProfessor

NationalityAmerican

Marital statusMarried

Ashok Gadgil Biography

Ashok Gadgil is an Indian-born American professor and inventor noted for practical technologies that improve access to safe water, cleaner indoor air, and,

Early life and background

Ashok Gadgil was born on November 15, 1950, in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. He completed his undergraduate studies in physics at the University of Bombay and continued in India for a master’s degree in physics at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. Gadgil later moved to the United States for graduate work at the University of California, Berkeley, earning an M.A. in physics and a Ph.D. in physics by 1979.

After finishing his doctorate, Gadgil returned to India and spent five years working with a nonprofit organization, focusing on energy efficiency, renewable energy, and related policy issues for a country facing significant energy challenges. He later pursued technology development in India in the late 1980s, obtaining several patents for solar heaters before returning to the U.S. the same year.

Career

Gadgil’s professional life has been centered on applying physical science to real-world problems in public health, energy, and the environment. He joined Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) where his research and inventions have translated into fieldable technologies for low-resource settings.

In the mid-1990s he developed a UV-based water disinfection system known as UV Waterworks. The system uses ultraviolet light from a low-pressure mercury source to disinfect drinking water and was conceived in response to waterborne disease outbreaks in South and Southeast Asia. That work brought early recognition: his UV Waterworks received technology awards in 1996 and later earned international honors for its environmental and public-health impact.

Gadgil has also worked on improved cookstove designs for displaced communities, notably a stove designed for use by refugees in Darfur in collaboration with the U.S. Agency for International Development. His stove work emphasized low cost, simplicity, and local manufacturability so communities could adopt and sustain the technology without complex supply chains.

Continuing his emphasis on low-cost water solutions, Gadgil developed an electrochemical method for removing arsenic from drinking water using low-voltage currents and iron electrodes, known as Electro-Chemical Arsenic Removal (ECAR). Over decades he has combined laboratory science with field deployment, demonstrating technologies that can be manufactured or implemented in the places that need them.

Recognition and honors

Gadgil’s innovations and sustained impact have been recognized by numerous awards. Highlights include early technology prizes for UV Waterworks, awards for the Berkeley-Darfur stove, and multiple sustainability and invention honors over the 2000s and 2010s. In 2013 he was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, and in 2014 he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Later recognitions include national and international prizes for contributions to technology, public health, and environmental solutions.

Academic and institutional roles

At Berkeley he has held senior roles that bridge research and social impact. He has served as a Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and as Distinguished Chair of the Andrew and Virginia Rudd Family Foundation and Professor of Safe Water and Sanitation. He has also been affiliated with Berkeley Lab, where his work earned internal honors, and he has co-edited scholarly reviews in the environmental sciences.

Public profile

Gadgil’s work and ideas have appeared in documentary films and public media. He was featured in the documentary Me and Isaac Newton in 1999 and appeared in the 2008 documentary Flow: For Love of Water. His public-facing work highlights engineering approaches to water, energy, and indoor air problems in low-resource settings.

Personal life

Gadgil holds American nationality and retains ties to his birthplace of Mumbai. As of 2024 he is 74 years old. He is married. Physically, he is described in public biographies as having black eyes and grey hair.

Latest updates

Recent years have seen continued recognition of Gadgil’s leadership in applied environmental technology. In 2023 he received national-level honors and began a distinguished professorship role in civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. In 2024 he received an award recognizing the use of science and technology through innovation.

Editorial Review and Sources

This F4U profile is written from publicly available career and profile information, then reviewed for clarity before publication. If you spot an outdated detail about Ashok Gadgil, send the page URL and a reliable correction source to f4udotin@gmail.com.

Reference context: StarsUnfolded

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Recent Work

Electro-Chemical Arsenic Removal (ECAR)

A low-voltage, iron-electrode technology to remove arsenic from drinking water.

2012
Berkeley-Darfur Stove

A low-cost, locally manufacturable stove designed for refugee settings, developed with USAID.

2004
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Career Highlights

  1. Developer of UV Waterworks, a low-cost UV water disinfection system
  2. Designer of the Berkeley-Darfur stove for refugee communities
  3. Inventor of electrochemical arsenic removal (ECAR) technology
  4. Inducted into the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (2013)
  5. Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame (2014)
  6. Recipient of multiple international awards for sustainability and innovation
Reviewed by F4U Editorial Desk

F4U profile pages are prepared from public career information, checked for readability, and updated when reliable correction sources are shared with the editorial team.

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Frequently Asked Questions

When was Ashok Gadgil born?

Ashok Gadgil was born on 15 November 1950.

What is Ashok Gadgil known for?

Ashok Gadgil is known for professor.

What is Ashok Gadgil’s marital status?

Ashok Gadgil's marital status is listed as Married.