Kalam at the International Book Fair, Trivandrum, 2014
11th President of India
In office
25 July 2002 – 25 July 2007
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Manmohan Singh
Vice President Krishan Kant
Bhairon Singh Shekhawat
Preceded by K. R. Narayanan
Succeeded by Pratibha Patil
Personal details
Born Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam
15 October 1931
Rameswaram, Ramnad District, Madras Presidency, British India
(now in Ramanathapuram District, Tamil Nadu, India)
Died 27 July 2015 (aged 83)
Shillong, Meghalaya, India
Nationality Indian
Alma mater St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli
Madras Institute of Technology
Profession Professor
Author
Aerospace scientist
Religion Islam[1]
Signature
Website abdulkalam.com
Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen "A. P. J." Abdul Kalam (i/ˈæbdʊl kəˈlɑːm/; 15 October 1931 – 27 July 2015) was the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. A career scientist turned reluctant politician, Kalam was born and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, and studied physics and aerospace engineering. He spent the next four decades as a scientist and science administrator, mainly at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and was intimately involved in India's civilian space program and military missile development efforts.[2] He thus came to be known as the Missile Man of India for his work on the development of ballistic missile and launch vehicle technology.[3][4][5] He also played a pivotal organizational, technical, and political role in India's Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998, the first since the original nuclear test by India in 1974.[6]
Kalam was elected as the 11th President of India in 2002 with the support of both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the then-opposition Indian National Congress. After serving a term of five years, he returned to his civilian life of education, writing and public service. He was a recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour.
Kalam was widely referred to as "People's President".[7] He died after he collapsed from an apparent cardiac arrest while delivering a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management Shillong on 27 July 2015, aged 83.[8] His death was mourned across the nation with thousands including National high level dignitaries attending the funeral ceremony held in his hometown Rameshwaram, where he was buried with full state honours.
