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H. C. Verma Biography: Age, Career, Family and More

F4U Editorial Desk • Updated October 4, 2026 • 6 min read

Quick Info

Date of birth8 April 1952

Age73 Years

BirthplaceDarbhanga, Bihar

ProfessionExperimental physicist, professor of Physics (retired)

NationalityIndian

Marital statusUnmarried

FamilyFather - Ganesh Prasad Verma; Mother - Ramvati Verma; Brother - Devi Prasad Verma

H. C. Verma Biography

Harish Chandra Verma is an Indian experimental physicist and retired professor best known for his two-volume textbook Concepts of Physics and for his long‑

Early life and background

Harish Chandra Verma was born on 8 April 1952 in Darbhanga, Bihar. He grew up in the region and later counted Patna, Bihar, as his hometown. Verma completed his early education in Bihar before enrolling for higher studies in physics.

He earned a B.Sc. (Hons.) in Physics from Patna Science College, where he finished among the top students in his university. He then moved to the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur for postgraduate and doctoral studies, obtaining an M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in Physics from IIT Kanpur.

Career

Verma began his academic career as a lecturer at Patna Science College in 1980. During this early period he focused on making physics more accessible to students, an effort that eventually led him to write a two‑volume textbook designed to simplify difficult concepts and methods.

After almost a decade at Patna Science College, Verma joined IIT Kanpur in 1994 as an assistant professor. At IIT Kanpur he taught a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, including nuclear physics, quantum mechanics and electrodynamics, and supervised review courses for doctoral students. His primary research area was experimental nuclear physics.

Verma’s textbook, published as Concepts of Physics in two volumes, became widely used by students and teachers. In addition to authoring books, he developed more than 600 physics demonstrations and experiments intended for classroom use, and he created open‑ended experimental activities that allow students to design and carry out their own investigations.

Outreach and teaching initiatives

Committed to improving physics education beyond his own classroom, Verma helped establish the National Anveshika Network of India (NANI) in 2011 through the Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT), where he served on the executive committee. NANI has supported the opening of centers in over twenty cities and has provided training, teaching‑aid development and practical activities for more than a thousand schools and colleges.

Through an NGO called Shiksha Sopan, run with the help of IIT Kanpur faculty and students, Verma has supported educational programs for children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds near the IIT campus. He has conducted workshops for school teachers—training more than 8,000 educators—and helped catalyze changes in classroom practice. From feedback collected after these programs, roughly 1,000 teachers reported a shift in how they approached teaching physics; an informal group of enthusiastic teachers known as Utsahi Physics Teachers grew from that effort and meets annually for summer workshops.

Recognition

For his contributions to science education and outreach, Verma received the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Shiksha Puruskar from the Bihar government in 2017. In February 2020 he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India for his work in science and technology.

Public profile

Verma retired from his position at IIT Kanpur on 30 June 2017 after a teaching career that spanned nearly four decades. He remains active in public engagement around physics: he produces content for a YouTube channel featuring physics topics and real‑life examples, and he is known to practice and promote yoga with students and family members.

Personal life

Verma is unmarried. His parents are Ganesh Prasad Verma, who worked as a teacher, and Ramvati Verma. He has a brother, Devi Prasad Verma, who is also a professor. Verma’s height is reported as approximately 168 cm (5 ft 6 in). He is Indian by nationality.

Latest updates

Since retirement, Verma’s work and influence have been recognized by students, teachers and the broader public. In July 2017 a YouTube channel posted a video honoring him, and his books and educational experiments continue to be widely used. He remains involved in teacher training and educational outreach programs that keep his emphasis on demonstrative, hands‑on physics alive.

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 H. C. Verma, send the page URL and a reliable correction source to f4udotin@gmail.com.

Reference context: StarsUnfolded
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Recent Work

Concepts of Physics (two‑volume textbook)

Two‑volume physics textbook designed to simplify concepts and classroom demonstrations.

1980s?
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Career Highlights

  1. Author of the two‑volume textbook Concepts of Physics
  2. Developed over 600 physics demonstration experiments and open‑ended classroom activities
  3. Initiated the National Anveshika Network of India (NANI) through IAPT
  4. Received Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Shiksha Puruskar (2017)
  5. Awarded Padma Shri (2020)
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Frequently Asked Questions

When was H. C. Verma born?

8 April 1952

What is H. C. Verma known for?

Experimental physicist, professor of Physics (retired)

What is H. C. Verma’s marital status?

Unmarried