The following is a list of notable people associated with the old Presidency College, Calcutta.
Academics Partha Chatterjee (scholar), professor of anthropology at Columbia University Abhijit Banerjee, professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 2019 Abhijit Basu, professor of geology, Indiana University Bloomington Joyoti Basu, cell biologist, N-Bios laureate Ratan Lal Basu, Specialist in ancient economics and Indologist Birendra Bijoy Biswas, Botanist and molecular biologist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate Barun De, Former Chairman, West Bengal Heritage Commission and Founder-Director, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta. Jitendra Nath Mohanty, philosopher, former president of the Indian Philosophical Congress Sankar Das Sarma, eminent theoretical condensed matter physicist and Richard E Prange Chaired Professor at University of Maryland, US Amartya Sen, Master, Trinity College, Cambridge (1998–2004); winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, 1998Encyclopædia Britannica Online: Amartya Sen Ashoke Sen, professor at the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS), Bangalore, winner of Dirac Medal in 2014 Surajit Chandra Sinha, former Vice Chancellor, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan; Maharajkumar of Susanga, BengalIndian Princely States: Susanga Sourindra Mohan Sircar, one of the greatest botanist of India. Was appointed the General President of ISCA Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, scholar, literary theorist, and feminist critic, holder of University Professor at Columbia University Kshirode Prasad Vidyavinode, Bengali poet, novelist, dramatist and nationalist and a professor of Chemistry at Chandernagore Dupleix College and later at Scottish Church College. Krishna Chandra Bhattacharya, modern Indian philosopher renowned for his method of constructive interpretation, a scholarly approach employed to elucidate and elaborate upon the interrelationships and intricacies inherent in ancient Indian philosophy. Nabaneeta Dev Sen, Bengali author, academic, professor of Comparative Literature at Jadavpur University. Amar Nath Bhaduri, an Indian molecular enzymologist and chemical biologist, known for his studies on UDP-glucose 4-epimerase, a homodimeric epimerase found in cells and his work on Leishmania donovani, the protozoal pathogen for Kala-azar. Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri, Indian physicist, known for his research in general relativity and cosmology. Dipesh Chakrabarty, historian and leading scholar of postcolonial theory and subaltern studies. Gautam Bhadra, historian of South Asia and was a member of the erstwhile Subaltern Studies collective. Ranajit Guha, a prominent Indian historian and a seminal figure among the early architects of the Subaltern Studies collective. Sudipta Kaviraj, distinguished scholar specializing in the domains of South Asian Politics and Intellectual History, frequently aligned with the disciplines of Postcolonial and Subaltern Studies. Parama Nath Bhaduri, renowned agricultural scientist. Sekhar Bandyopadhyay, historian and a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi, known for his research on the Dalit caste of Bengal. Susobhan Sarkar, renowned Indian historian. Sumit Sarkar, historian of Modern India and a founding member of the Subaltern Studies Group as well as one of its most important critics. Tanika Sarkar, historian of modern India based at the Jawaharlal Nehru University. Sarkar's work focuses on the intersections of religion, gender, and politics in both colonial and postcolonial South Asia, in particular on women and the Hindu Right. Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri, historian, known for his studies on ancient India. Tapan Raychaudhuri, British-Indian historian specialising in British Indian history, Indian economic history and the History of Bengal. Rajat Kanta Ray, Indian historian of South Asian history, specialising in Modern Indian history. Ashin Das Gupta, renowned historian of Indian Ocean World. Dwijendra Narayan Jha, Marxist historian who studied and wrote on ancient and medieval India. Amiya Kumar Bagchi, Indian economic historian. Jasodhara Bagchi, leading Indian feminist professor, author, critic and activist. Sugata Bose, historian and politician who has taught and worked in the United States since the mid-1980s. His fields of study are South Asian and Indian Ocean history. Samik Bandyopadhyay, Kolkata-based critic of Indian art, theatre and film. Krishna Bose, Indian politician, educator, author and social worker. Jnan Chandra Ghosh, Indian chemist best known for his contribution to the development of scientific research, industrial development and technology education in India. He served as the director of the newly formed Eastern Higher Technical Institute in 1950, which was renamed as IIT Kharagpur in 1951. He was also the director of the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore and Vice Chancellor of the University of Calcutta. Nirmal Kumar Bose, Indian anthropologist, who played a formative role in "building an Indian Tradition in Anthropology". Kaliprasanna Vidyaratna, Indian scholar of Sanskrit, academic and author. He was the principal of the Sanskrit College between 1908 and 1910. Sukhamoy Chakraborty, Indian economist and one of the key architects of the Five Year Plans. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, Indian scientist and statistician. He is best remembered for the Mahalanobis distance, a statistical measure, and for being one of the members of the first Planning Commission of free India. He made pioneering studies in anthropometry in India. The Hon'ble Babu Mahendranath Ray, CIE,, one of the earliest faculties of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, one of the founders of Asutosh College and the first elected Indian members of the Senate of the University of Calcutta. Satyendra Nath Bose, Indian theoretical physicist and mathematician. He is best known for his work on quantum mechanics in the early 1920s, in developing the foundation for Bose–Einstein statistics, and the theory of the Bose–Einstein condensate. Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, polymath with interests in biology, physics and writing science fiction. He was a pioneer in the investigation of radio microwave optics, made significant contributions to botany, and was a major force behind the expansion of experimental science on the Indian subcontinent. Rai Bahadur Sir Upendranath Brahmachari, prominent Indian physician and scientist. Sir Jadunath Sarkar, prominent Indian historian and a specialist on the Mughal dynasty. Hara Prasad Shastri, Indian academic, Sanskrit scholar, archivist, and historian of Bengali literature. He is most known for discovering the Charyapada, the earliest known examples of Bengali literature. Hem Chandra Dasgupta, Indian geologist and a professor of geology at Presidency College and Calcutta University. Romesh Chunder Dutt, Indian civil servant, economic historian, translator of Ramayana and Mahabharata. Suniti Kumar Chatterji, Indian linguist, educationist and litterateur. Mahendralal Sarkar, Bengali medical doctor (MD), the second MD graduated from the Calcutta Medical College, social reformer, and propagator of scientific studies in nineteenth-century India. Muhammad Shahidullah, Bengali linguist, philologist, educationist, and writer. Mihir Rakshit, Indian economist, known for his work on fiscal, monetary and other policy, especially issues that concern developing economies. Dipak Banerjee, Indian economist and taught at Presidency College, eventually becoming the head of the Economics Department. Debraj Ray, Indian-American economist, who is currently teaching and working at New York University. His research interests focus on development economics and game theory. Amita Chatterjee, philosopher of science and logician, first vice-chancellor of Presidency University Kolkata. Malabika Sarkar, Indian academic, former Vice-Chancellor of Ashoka University, and a former Vice Chancellor of Presidency University, Kolkata. Somak Raychaudhury, Indian astrophysicist. Sivatosh Mookerjee, researcher and a scientist contributing to the field of Developmental Biology, particularly studies related to Hydra and amphibian embryos. Benimadhab Barua, Indian scholar of ancient Indian languages, Buddhism and law. Atindra Mohan Goon, renowned statistician and later joined the Statics department and had strongly pleaded for the autonomy of Presidency College in the early 1980s. Prafulla Chandra Ray, Indian chemist, educationist, historian, industrialist and philanthropist. Rajnarayan Basu, Indian writer and intellectual of the Bengal Renaissance. Sisir Kumar Mitra, Indian physicist. Meghnad Saha, Indian astrophysicist and politician who helped devise the theory of thermal ionisation. Peary Chand Mitra, Indian writer, journalist, cultural activist and entrepreneur. Peary Charan Sarkar, educationist and textbook writer in nineteenth century Bengal. Sukanta Chaudhuri, Indian literary scholar, now Professor Emeritus at Jadavpur University, Kolkata. Bhabatosh Datta, noted Indian economist, academic and writer. Supriya Chaudhuri, Indian scholar of English literature and Professor Emerita at Kolkata's Jadavpur University. Subhoranjan Dasgupta, specialising in the Partitition of 1947, Neo-Marxian aesthetics and creativity of Gunter Grass and Akhtaruzzaman Elias, also professor of human sciences, Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata. Rudrangshu Mukherjee, historian of Modern India,former Opinions Editor for The Telegraph newspaper, Kolkata and the Chancellor for Ashoka University, where he also serves as Professor of History. Sobhanlal Datta Gupta, former Surendra Nath Banerjee Professor of Political Science at the University of Calcutta, and one of the most distinguished scholars of Marxism in India. Anuradha Roy, historian of intellectual and cultural history of modern Bengal. Supratim Das, historian and Vice Principal of Scottish Church College. Boria Majumdar, Indian sports journalist, sports historian and writer. Subhas Ranjan Chakraborty, Professor of European history at Presidency College and has written on the history of Modern Europe, Darjeeling, and on sports history in South Asia. Tapati Guha-Thakurta, Indian historian who has written about the cultural history and art of India. Nikhil Ranjan Sen, Scientist who was a pioneer in the field of general relativity and called the father of applied mathematics in India.
Actors and Film Makers Ashok Kumar, Actor Chhabi Biswas, Actor Dhritiman Chatterjee, Actor Ritwik Ghatak, Film Maker Pritish Nandy, Film Maker Pramathesh Barua, Actor and Film Maker Satyajit Ray, Film Maker Bikash Roy, Actor Aparna Sen, Actor, Film Maker Srijit Mukherji, Film Maker
Administration Jawhar Sircar, Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Union Culture Secretary(2008-13), who organised the 150th Birth Anniversary celebrations of Tagore and Vivekananda on a grand scale, nationally and internationally. He later became CEO, Prasar Bharati and then MP, Rajya Sabha. Gurusaday Dutt, ICS, Secretary, Local Self Government and Public Health Secretary, Government of Bengal Mahendranath Roy, CIE, lawyer, educationist, politician, first elected chairperson of the Howrah Municipal Corporation Satyendranath Tagore, Indian civil servant, poet, composer, writer, social reformer and linguist from Calcutta, Bengal. He was the first Indian who became an Indian Civil Service officer in 1863. Romesh Chunder Dutt, Indian civil servant, economic historian. Bimal Jalan, Indian economist and bureaucrat who served as 20th Governor of Reserve Bank of India. Ashok Lahiri, Economist and 4th Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog. Sukumar Sen, an Indian civil servant who was the 1st Chief Election Commissioner of India, serving from 21 March 1950 to 19 December 1958.<https://www.eci.gov.in/former-cec-ec> Behari Lal Gupta, ICS, His legal brief on judicial racial inequality directly inspired the historic Ilbert Bill