Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai was born on 12 August 1919 at
Ahmedabad. His primary education was in the family school managed by his parents. After passing from Gujarat College in Ahmedabad, he joined St. John's College Cambridge. In 1939, he took his honors examinations in natural sciences. During the World War-II, Vikram returned to India and started research in ‘Cosmic-Rays’ under the guidance of the Nobel Laureate Sir Chandrashekhara Venkata Raman in the Indian Institute of Science at
Bangalore. He was awarded PhD degree by Cambridge University in 1947. After that Dr.Sarabhai founded the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in November 1947 at Ahmedabad and continued his scientific activities. In the same year Dr. Sarabhai founded Ahmedabad Textile Industries Research Association (ATIRA).
Between 1950 and 1966, he was instrumental in establishing a chain of industries in {116110Vadodara. In 1957, Vikram started Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA). Realizing the need for professional management education, he founded Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in 1962 and directed it until 1965. In 1962, he was selected as the Chairman of Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR). He founded the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) at Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) and started a program to manufacture French Centaur sounding rockets in India. In 1966, he was appointed as the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. In 1962 Dr. Sarabhai was awarded the Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Award for Physics and was honored with Padma Bhushan in 1966. Dr. Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai passed away in 1971. Padma Vibhushan was awarded to him after his death.
