From Track Star and BC Roy Gold Medalist to Lifetime Achiever: Richard D'Souza ('71, NA, RP)
Information provided by Ron Gupta and IIT-Kharagpur (March 2021)
During his time at IIT-Kharagpur, Richard D'Souza flexed his mental and athletic prowess. While at KGP, he competed in track and found himself at the top, setting records in the 100 m, 200 m, and 400 m races. Prof. Kingshook Bhattacharyya, current Treasurer of Gymkhana, recalls that the records D'Souza set stood for nearly 50 years--proving to be considered untouchable at Inter-IIT and people used to "simply wonder about what he could have been like in person." Bhattacharyya continued, "To put it into context, at that time it was possible to get a medal at senior state and even some national level competitions in 100 m, 200 m and 400 m with his timings. Also all his timings were achieved without proper coaching and on a grass track (people were not as aware about grass, watering and leveling of grounds as we are now e.g. Mahtama Gandhi stadium) with very basic running gear." D'Souza brought home the Bhandarkar Cup awarded by Gymkhana as the best outgoing all-rounder
D'Souza also found himself at the top of the class, earning the BC Roy Gold Medal for IIT All-Around Performance in 1971.
In 2015, D'Souza received the Lifetime Achievement Award by SNAME (Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers). During that time, Richard was serving as Senior Vice President of Granherne at KBR. The award was given to him for his exceptional contributions toward advancing naval architecture and marine engineering in the offshore industry. "It is an honor that I proudly accepted on behalf of Granherne and the many naval architects and ocean engineers I have hired and mentored over my 40-year career." In 2019, D'Souza was awarded The Blakely Smith Medal for Outstanding Accomplishment in Ocean Engineering. The Foundation ran an article about this achievement which you can view by clicking here.
D'Souza spent much of his career in Texas but relocated to Maryland with his wife Dr. Rena D'Souza who was named as the Director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). (Read the press release on Rena's selection)