Prof. Dwarkadas Prahladadas Kothari is an educationist and professor who has held leadership positions at engineering institutions in India, including IIT Delhi, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur and VIT University, Vellore. Currently, He is with Electrical Engineering Department as Hon. Adjunct Professor. As a recognition of his contributions to engineering education, he was honored as an IEEE Fellow. Previously he was Vice-Chancellor at VIT University. D. P. Kothari has served as Advisor to the Chancellor at VIT University, Vellore. Before that, he was Head, Centre for Energy Studies at IIT Delhi (1995–97) and Principal, Visvesvaraya Regional Engineering College, Nagpur (1997–98). He has also been Director i/c, IIT Delhi (2005) and Deputy Director (Administration), IIT Delhi (2003–06). D. P. Kothari is most popularly known for his contributions to the advancement of engineering education in India. He has published and presented over 842 papers in national and international journals and conferences. He has authored and co-authored 60 books, including Power System Optimization, Modern Power System Analysis, Electric Machines, Power System Transients, Theory and Problems of Electric Machines, Renewable Energy Sources and Emerging Technologies, and Power System Engineering. His research interests include Optimal Hydro-thermal Scheduling, Unit Commitment, Maintenance Scheduling, Energy Conservation (loss minimization and voltage control), and Power Quality and Energy Systems Planning and Modelling. He is currently an Honorary Adjunct Professor at VNIT, Nagpur.
The University Grants Commission presented him with the UGC National Swami Pranavananda Saraswati Award for 2005 on Education for his scholarly contributions. He is the recipient of the National Khosla Lifetime Achievement Award 2005 from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, the National Award for Science and Technology from the Uttar Pradesh government in 2001, and the Eminent Engineering Personality award from the Institution of Engineers (India) for the year 2001. The World Management Congress gave D. P. Kothari the Lifetime Achievement Award for ‘Educational Planning and Administration in December 2009.[11] Dr. D. P. Kothari was selected to receive the Best Professor of the Year 2013 by the Association of Scientists, Developers, and Faculties.
He received an Excellent Academic Award at IIT Guwahati by NPSC-2014. In 2016, he received 9 Life Time Achievement awards from various agencies on 19 February, 4 March, 11 March, 18 March, 20TH March, and 25 March 2016, 20 April, 14 May 2016, 20 June 2018 respectively.
