S. K. Tandon, born on 13 August 1945 in the Indian capital of Delhi to Piara Lal Tandon and Karam Devi, completed his Senior Cambridge in 1961 and did his graduate studies (BSc hons) at Panjab University during 1961–65 after which he obtained a master's degree (MSc hons) from the same university in 1966.[10] His doctoral studies were at the University of Delhi and after securing a PhD, he joined the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi as a lecturer in 1966.[6] Two years later, he shifted to Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology as a scientific officer and in 1976, he returned to Delhi University as a member of faculty. He served the institution in various capacities; as the head of the department of geology from 1990 to 1993, dean of the faculty of science from 1992 to 1993 and as dean of the research and international relations from 2001 to 2006 before becoming the pro-vice chancellor of the university in 2005, a post he held till 2010.[11] In between, he did his post-doctoral studies at the Institute of Geosciences of Shizuoka University in 1981 with H. Okada and at the Department of Earth Sciences of University of Cambridge during 1984-85 under the guidance of P. F. Friend.[6] During his service at Delhi University, he chaired several bodies and empowered committees of the university such as the Governing Body of Ram Lal Anand College (1994–95), Academic Reforms and Accountability Committee (2002–03), Restructuring Undergraduate Science Programs Committee (2002–05), Committee for Designing B.Sc. (Hons.) course in Computer Science and the Committee for Restructuring M.Phil Courses.[10]
Tandon is married to Anita Mehrotra and the couple has two sons, Aditya and Amitabh. The family lives in Delhi.
Legacy
The Deccan Traps shown as dark purple spot on the geologic map of India
Tandon is known to have done extensive researches on sedimentary tectonics and magnetostratigraphy and his work on the Siwalik rocks is reported to have assisted in the wider understanding of this tectonically dynamic region of the Himalayas.[12] He pioneered the physical dating techniques such as magnetic polarity, luminescence dating, fission track dating of zircons in India and he contributed to reconstruct the Late Cretaceouspalaeogeography of Central India which revealed the impact of Deccan volcanism on contemporary sedimentary environments.[6] His studies have been detailed in several peer reviewed articles;[13][note 7]ResearchGate and Google Scholar, two online repositories of scientific articles has listed 110[14] and 180 of them respectively.[15] He sat in several government agencies as a member. He was a member of the project advisory committees of the Department of Science and Technology (1994–97), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (2001–05), Integrated Long-Term Program (2001–04) and Central Groundwater Board (2001–04) and chaired the Project Advisory Committee of the DST during 1998–2000.[10] He also chaired the Research Advisory Committees of Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (2004–07) and Young Scientists Fast Track Scheme (Earth Sciences) of DST (2005–08) besides being associated with several other councils and committees as a member.[16] He presided the Indian Association of Sedimentologists (2003–12),[17] and served as the vice president of the Geological Society of India during 2007-10[18] and 2010-13.[19] He was a councillor of International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) during 2010-14 and has been serving as the vice president of the Indian Mineralogists Association since 2005. He was the convenor of the editorial committee of the University Grants Commission of India for promoting research at educational institutions in 2004 and was a member of the editorial board of Current Science (2003–13)[10] and the Proceedings in Earth and Planetary Sciences of the Indian Academy of Sciences.[20] He is the incumbent chairman of the research advisory council of Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany[21] and a member of the advisory committee of the Indian Statistical Institute.[22]
Sinha, R. ; Bhattacharjee, P. S. ; Sangode, S. J. ; Gibling, M. R. ; Tandon, S. K. ; Jaine, M. ; Godfrey Smith, D. (2007). "Valley and interfluve sediments in the Southern Ganga plains, India: exploring facies and magnetic signatures". Sedimentary Geology. 201 (3–4): 386–411. Bibcode:2007SedG..201..386S. doi:10.1016/j.sedgeo.2007.07.004. S2CID140711872.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Singh, Vimal ; Tandon, S. K. (2008). "The Pinjaur dun (intermontane longitudinal valley) and associated active mountain fronts, NW Himalaya: tectonic geomorphology and morphotectonic evolution". Geomorphology. 102 (3–4): 376–394. Bibcode:2008Geomo.102..376S. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2008.04.008.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Saini, H. S. ; Tandon, S. K. ; Mujtaba, S. A. I. ; Pant, N. C. ; Khorana, R. K. (2009). "Reconstruction of buried channel-floodplain systems of the northwestern Haryana Plains and their relation to the 'Vedic' Saraswati". Current Science. 97 (11): 1634–1643.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Singh, Vimal ; Tandon, S. K. (2010). "Integrated analysis of structures and landforms of an intermontane longitudinal valley (Pinjaur dun) and its associated mountain fronts in the NW Himalaya". Geomorphology. 114 (4): 573–589. Bibcode:2010Geomo.114..573S. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2009.09.019.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Nador, Annamaria ; Sinha, Rajiv ; Magyari, Arpad ; Tandon, Sampat K. ; Medzihradszky, Zsofia ; Babinszki, Edit ; Bozso, Edit Thamo ; Unger, Zoltan ; Singh, Ashish (2011). "Late quaternary (weichselian) alluvial history and neotectonic control on fluvial landscape development in the southern Körös plain, Hungary". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 299 (1–2): 1–14. Bibcode:2011PPP...299....1N. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.09.018.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)