THE LIVING LEGEND

Apj Abdul kalam

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (Tamil: அவுல் பகீர் ஜைனுலாப்தீன் அப்துல் கலாம்) usually referred to as A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, was the 11th President of India who served from 2002 to 2007. During his term as President, he was popularly known as the People's President.
Before his term as India's president, he worked as an aeronautical engineer with DRDO and ISRO. He is popularly known as the Missile Man of India for his work on development of ballistic missile and space rocket technology. Kalam played a pivotal organizational, technical and political role in India's Pokhran-II nuclear test in 1998, the first since the original nuclear test by India in 1974.
He is currently the chancellor of Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, a professor at Anna University (Chennai), a visiting professor at Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, JSS University in Mysore, and an adjunct/visiting faculty at many other academic and research institutions across India.

Early life and education

Abdul Kalam graduated in physics from St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirapalli. After which he went to graduate with a diploma in Aeronautical Engineering in the mid-1950s from the Madras Institute of Technology. As the Project Director, he was heavily involved in the development of India's first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-II).

Career
After graduation from Madras Institute of Technology he was the Project Director, he was heavily involved in the development of India's first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III). As Chief Executive of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (I.G.M.D.P), he played a major part in developing many missiles in India including Agni and Prithvi although the entire project has been criticised for being overrun and mismanaged. He was the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of Defence Research and Development Organisation from July 1992 to December 1999. Pokhran-II nuclear tests were conducted during this period and have been associated with Kalam although he was not directly involved with the nuclear program at the time. He is called the missile man of India.

Kalam's writings

• Wings of Fire: An Autobiography of APJ Abdul Kalam
• Scientist to President 
• Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power Within India
• India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium  
• India-my-dream .
• Envisioning an Empowered Nation: Technology for Societal Transformation
• Guiding Souls: Dialogues on the Purpose of Life
• Children Ask Kalam
• Indomitable Spirit,2006
• The Scientific Indian: A Twenty-first Century Guide to the World around Us by
• My Journey

Awards and honours

Year of Award or Honor	Name of Award or Honor	Awarding Organization
2009	Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa)	Anna University of Technology.
2009	Hoover Medal	ASME Foundation, USA [11].
2009	International von Kármán Wings Award	California Institute of Technology, USA[12].
1997	Bharat Ratna	President of India.
1990	Padma Vibhushan	President of India.
1981	Padma Bhushan	President of India.

let us be proud to have such a great genuis in our country......His achievment will be a motivation to present as well as future generation.