Umesh V Waghmare graduated with an Institute Silver Medal and a B.Tech. in Engineering Physics (1990) from IIT-Bombay. He received a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Yale University, New Haven, in 1996 and carried out postdoctoral research at Harvard University (1996-2000). He joined JNCASR as Assistant Professor in 2000. He had been an Adjunct Professor at Birck Nanotechnology Center of Purdue University (2010-2012) and TIFR, Mumbai (2014-2017). He is currently a Professor in the Theoretical Sciences Unit, JNCASR (2009-present). He is a fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, National Academy of Science, Indian National Academy of Engineering, and the Indian Academy of Sciences.