Department of Zoology

The Department of Zoology, University of Lucknow came into existence in 1921, when Canning College, Lucknow, formerly affiliated to Allahabad University, came under Lucknow University and its Department of Biology was split into the Department of Zoology and Department of Botany. (Late) Dr. GS Thaper (Ph.D. London, 1925), who was serving the Canning College, Lucknow as Lecturer since 1918 became the first officiating Head of the Department of Zoology. Late Dr. KN Bahl (D.Sc., D.Phil., Oxford, 1921) took over in 1923, first as Reader and Head of the Department. He was soon elevated to the post of Professor. The name and fame of the Department of Zoology, Lucknow University, spread far and wide under his able guidance. Professor Bahl was succeeded by Professor GS Thaper in 1952. Professor Thaper was one of those leading Zoologists, who laid strong foundations of Helminthology in India. Subsequently, Professor MB Lal brought Physiology and Experimental Zoology to new heights; he later became the Vice-Chancellor of University of Lucknow. The subsequent Heads of the Department, Professors PD Gupta, Ram Rakshpal, BK Tandon, Bhoomittra Dev, KC Pandey, Vinod Gupta, Nirupama Agrawal, Prof. Minakshi Shrivastava and present Head Prof. A. K. Sharma have added new dimensions to the pursuits of Zoology. Many other eminent Zoologists, like Professors ML Bhatia, SM Das, J Dayal, Premvati and SC Baugh have been on the staff of the Department and made valuable contributions in their respective areas of specializations. As a result of their researches, and those of their students, the department has become a leading centre of teaching and research in several fields, particularly in Physiology and Experimental Zoology, Helminthology, Entomology, Ichthyology, Endocrinology and Ornithology, Cellular and Molecular Biology and Genetics.

Some of the alumni of the Lucknow School of Zoology who are holding or have held Professorial and other important positions are: Dr. M.L. Roonwal, Ex-Director, Zoological Survey of India; Prof. M.L. Bhatia, Ex-Head, Department of Zoology, Delhi University, Prof. S.M. Das, Ex-Head, Department of Zoology, Kashmir University; Dr.V.G. Jhingran, Prof. S.D. Misra; Prof. B.B. Saxena (U.S.A.); Prof. Satyendra Khera, Prof. M.S. Kanungo; Prof. G.N. Johri; Prof. G.S. Dogra; (Late) Prof. S.K. Moitra; Prof. S.L. Jain; Dr. V. Dhanda ; Dr. A.C. Mathur; Dr. K.C. Sanwal; Prof. S.K. Singh; Prof. N.N. Sharma; Prof. R.A. Agrawal; Prof. K.P. Singh; Prof. G.P. Agrawal; Prof. Rameshwar Singh; Prof. K.C. Pandey, Prof. R.S. Tandon, Prof. B.D. Joshi, Prof. A.K. Chopra, Prof. G.S. Misra, Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prof. H.S. Singh. Other prominent faculties have been prof. S.P. Gupta, Prof. S.C. Nigam, Prof. Padma Saxena, Prof. S.P. Singh, Prof. G.N. Verma, Prof. Pratap Singh, Prof. Sarla Srivastava, Prof. S.K. Saxena, Prof. U.D. Sharma and Dr. M.M. Saxena.

In addition to B. Sc. and M. Sc. degrees, the Department has produced more than two hundred Ph. Ds. and 23 D. Scs. The Department has 19 Faculty, 32 Non- teaching Class III and IV Employees and about 950 undergraduate, postgraduate and research students.