Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam BR was an Indian aerospace scientist and statesman who served as the 11th president of India from 2002 to 2007. Born and raised in a Muslim family in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, he studied physics and aerospace engineering. He spent the next four decades as a scientist and science administrator, mainly at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and was intimately involved in India's civilian space programme and military missile development efforts. He thus came to be known as the Missile Man of India for his work on the development of ballistic missile and launch vehicle technology. He also played a pivotal organisational, technical, and political role in India's Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998, the first since the original nuclear test by India in 1974.
Official portrait, 2002
Kalam addresses engineering students at IIT Guwahati
Kalam along with Vladimir Putin and Manmohan Singh during his presidency
Kalam's veena on display at the Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum in New Delhi
The president of India is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the supreme commander of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu is the 15th and current president, having taken office from 25 July 2022.
President of India
Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official residence of the president, located in New Delhi
Rashtrapati Nilayam is the official retreat of the president located in Hyderabad.
The Retreat Building is the official summer retreat of the president located in Shimla.