On Tuesday, July 23, 2019, Ravindra Behari “Ravi” Lal of Huntsville passed away at the age of 83. Ravi was born on October 5, 1935 in Agra, India. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from Agra University in 1962 and married his wife Usha in that same year. They moved to Huntsville in 1964, where they raised their son Amit.
Ravi Lal began his scientific career in the United States at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, helping develop new materials and technologies for the space program and working with leading scientists like Wernher Von Braun. He became a professor at Alabama A&M University in 1975 and helped establish the University’s Masters and Doctorate programs in Physics. Ravi was a pioneer in growing crystals in microgravity, serving as the Principal Investigator on experiments flown on SpaceLab-3 in 1985 and the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1992. He initiated an annual Nobel Laureate Lecturer series in 1997, which has already brought 20 Nobel Prize winners to Huntsville. Ravi was named an Alabama A&M Eminent Scholar in 2005 and became a Fellow of SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, in 2006.
Ravi was known for his generosity, compassion, and energy, and was very active in social, religious, and civic activities. He was loved and admired by his family, colleagues, students, and friends. Ravi loved meeting people and had friends in every city that he visited. As one of the first Indian couples in Huntsville, Ravi and Usha served as mentors and advisors to hundreds of Indian families, and were instrumental in helping to build a temple (HCCNA) for the North Alabama Indian community. After his retirement from teaching, Ravi served on the Board for AshaKiran, an organization that provides assistance to individuals from multicultural backgrounds that are experiencing crises.
Ravi was preceded in death by his parents, Avadh Behari Lal Mathur and Radhapyari, and his brother Saran. He is survived by his wife Usha, his son Amit, his daughter-in-law Rachna, his grandson Nikhil, and his sister Sheela.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, July 27th, 2019, at 11:00 AM at the Laughlin Service Funeral Home on Bob Wallace Avenue.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to AshaKiran (http://ashakiran.com/).
