Sambasivarao Kotha graduated with an M.Sc. degree in Chemistry from the University of Hyderabad and obtained a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Hyderabad in 1985. Later, he moved to UMIST Manchester, UK, and the University of Wisconsin, USA, as a research associate. Subsequently, he was appointed as a visiting scientist at Cornell University and as a research chemist at Hoechst Celanese Texas prior to joining IIT Bombay in 1994 as an Assistant Professor. Later, in 2001, he was promoted to Professor. He has published 330 publications in peer-reviewed journals and was elected fellow of the various academies (FNASc, FASc, FRSC and FNA) and holds the position of Pramod Chaudhari Chair Professor in Green Chemistry (2011-2020). He was also associated with the editorial advisory boards of several journals. His research interests include: organic synthesis, green chemistry, development of new synthetic methods for unusual amino acids, peptide modification, cross-coupling reactions, and metathesis.