Like most boys, he loved the outdoors. As a child in Calcutta, India he would roam the unpaved streets for hours. By the end of the day he would accumulate pockets of rocks he would study outside.

“I yearned for outdoor life,” says Basu with a smile. But, in college he followed his parents wishes and went to engineering school. It only took two months before Basu dropped out to pursue a more fulfilling career in geology. “I disliked the mentality of the money-oriented engineering students," Basu recalled in a recent interview in his office in the Geology Building on the Bloomington campus.

Basu’s decision to switch from engineering to geology was a smart one. After earning a PhD in geology from Indiana University in 1975, he went on to accomplish great things.

He has won three distinguished service awards from Indiana University, the Geological Society of America, and the Cultural Association of Bengal (North America). Dr. Basu received the recognition for his hard work and dedication to the subject of geology. For five years, from 2003 to 2008, Dr. Basu also held the Herman B. Wells Endowed Professorship given to an Indiana University professor whose vision and character have led to outstanding levels of achievement in their career and service to humanity.

In his research, his main focus is on sedimentary rocks. Sedimentary rocks are important because they can be used as construction material because they are soft and easy to cut. Also, sedimentary rocks often form reservoirs in sedimentary basins where petroleum can be found. Basu says he is most proud of field work that predicted and found channel sandstones in India, used for exploration of coal.

As much as he loves the study of geology that has brought him all these awards. Basu’s most rewarding moments have not been found in the field, but in the classroom. Visit his classroom in the limestone Geology Building on 10^th St, and you will see him passionately teaching students about geology. Outside the classroom, he is just as dedicated. Basu says he loves watching student learn something about the natural world. They may not become geologists, but he hopes they will.

He can recall two incidences that made him realize he was making a difference in the lives of students. The first came 15 years back when a student wrote to him saying that had it not been for his support she might have dropped out of school and left geology.

The second incident came a few years back. After punishing a freshman student for academic dishonesty. Some two years down the road, while working at the Tudor Room and finding Basu eating lunch, the student approached, introduced herself and in front of three other lunch-partners thanked him for setting her straight.

Basu looks back on the day he decided to switch from engineering to geology with a smile. That day is what led him to the happy life he leads now. Because of that decision so many years ago, he gets to be around the two things he loves most, geology and his students.

-Stephanie Pascarella