Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata

Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata (July 29, 1904–November 29, 1993) was a pioneer aviator and one of the most enterprising Indian entrepreneurs. J.R.D. Tata was born in Paris, France, the second child of Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata and his French  wife, Suzanne Sooni Brière. His father was a first cousin of Jamsedji Tata, a pioneer industrialist in India. As his mother was French, he spent much of his childhood in France. He was educated in France, Japan and England before being drafted into the French army for a mandatory one-year period. JRD wanted to extend his service in the forces but destiny had something else in store for him...

J.R.D. Tata has great interest in flying. In 1929 Tata got the first pilot licence issued in India. He later came to be known as the father of Indian civil aviation. He founded India's first commercial airline, 'Tata Airlines', in 1932, which in 1946 became Air India, now India's national airline.

In 1938, at the age of 34, JRD was elected fourthbChairman of Tata & Sons. The Tata Group, established in 1859, was already became India`s biggest business conglomerate. He started with 14 enterprises under his leadership with sales of Rs 280 crore and half a century later on July 26, 1988, when he left, Tata & Sons was a conglomerate of 95 enterprises which they either started or in which they had controlling interest. The year of his death 1993, sales were Rs 15,000 crore.

In 1956, JRD Tata initiated a program of closer "employee association with management" to give workers a stronger voice in the affairs of the company. He firmly believed in employee welfare and espoused the principles of an eight-hour working day, free medical aid, workers' provident scheme, and workmen's accident compensation schemes, which were later, adopted as statutory requirements in India.

JRD Tata cared greatly for his workers. In 1979, Tata Steel instituted a new practice; a worker is deemed to be "at work" from the moment he leaves home for work till he returns home from work. The company is financially liable to the worker if any mishap takes place on the way to and from work. Tata Steel Township was also selected as a UN Global Compact City because of the quality of life, conditions of sanitation, roads and welfare that were offered by Tata Steel.

The achievements of the Tata Group would not have been possible without the support of its workforce.  According to JRD Tata, quality had to match innovation. A company, which uses the name Tata, shares a tradition. The symbol `T` has to be a symbol of quality.`

JRD strengthened existing businesses such as steel, power and hotels. At the same time, the group lost interest in some of its older core businesses. During the last half of the twentieth century Tata entered several new businesses, many of them unconventional, and produced a vast range of products -- from airlines to hotels, trucks to locomotives, soda ash and other heavy chemicals to pharmaceuticals and financial services, tea and air conditioning to lipsticks and cologne. The group seemed to make everything and do everything. As an industrialist, JRD Tata is credited with placing the Tata Group on the international map.

A number of award recipient JRD Tata received the "Padma Vibhushan" in 1957 on the eve of silver jubilee of Air India. He also received the Guggenheim Medal for aviation in 1988. In 1992, because of his selfless humanitarian endeavors, JRD Tata was awarded India`s highest civilian honor, the Bharat Ratna-one of the rarest instances in which this award was granted during a person`s lifetime. In the same year, JRD Tata was also bestowed with the United Nations Population Award for his crusading endeavors towards initiating and successfully implementing the family planning movement in India, much before it became an official government policy. On his death, the Indian Parliament was adjourned in his memory-an honor not usually given to persons who are not Members of Parliament.

JRD was the trustee of Sir Dorabji Tata Trust from its inception in 1932, which remained under his wings for over half a century. Under his guidance, this Trust established Asia's first cancer hospital, the Tata Memorial Center for Cancer, Research and Treatment, Bombay, 1941. It also founded the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, 1936 (TISS), the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, 1945 (TIFR), and the National Center for Performing Arts.

He died in Geneva, Switzerland in 1993 at the age of 89. He is buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.