Ratan N. Tata was a beloved, longtime member of the XPRIZE community and is dearly missed by our organization and countless others.

In 2008, The Government of India honored Mr. Tata with its second-highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan. He was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, and the Rockefeller Foundation conferred him with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Among his other achievements, Mr. Tata was also an honorary fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Royal Academy of Engineering, and a foreign associate of National Academy of Engineering. He received honorary doctorates from several universities in India and overseas. 

Ratan Tata was Chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, from 1991 till his retirement on December 28, 2012. Mr. Tata was the Chairman of the major Tata companies, including Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Power, Tata Global Beverages, Tata Chemicals, Indian Hotels, and Tata Teleservices. 

Mr. Tata served on the international advisory boards of Mitsubishi Corporation and JP Morgan Chase. He was the Chairman of the Tata Trusts which is amongst India's oldest, non-sectarian philanthropic organizations that works in several areas of community development. He was the Chairman of the Council of Management of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and also served on the board of trustees of Cornell University and the University of Southern California.  

Mr. Tata joined the Tata group in 1962. After serving in various companies, he was appointed Director-in-charge of the National Radio & Electronics Company Limited in 1971. Mr. Tata received a B.Arch. degree from Cornell in 1962. He worked briefly with Jones and Emmons in Los Angeles before returning to India in late 1962. He completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in 1975.