Ripudaman Malhotra completed his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1979 at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, and both M.Sc. and B.Sc. in Chemistry in 1973 and 1971, respectively, at Delhi University, India. He was a research chemist at SRI International from 1979 to 2015 (retired), and during his 36-year tenure at SRI, he worked extensively on the chemistry of processing fossil fuels. His detailed mechanistic studies of these systems have resulted in innovative processes that achieve desired product selectivity and increased efficiency. As someone deeply engaged in energy research, he was acutely aware of the looming energy crisis, which was being exacerbated by the potential of global climate change. He broadened his research interests into studying alternate resources such as biomass and application of biotechnology in the areas of energy, chemicals, and the environment. In 2005, he joined Hew Crane and Ed Kinderman to co-author A Cubic Mile of Oil: The LoomingEnergy Crisis and Options for Averting It, which was published by the Oxford University press in 2010.Among his technical works are 100 papers in archival literature, co-authorship of a book on nitrations, the editing of a book on combinatorial materials development, and co-editorship of a book on advanced materials. He is a section editor of Encyclopedia of Sustainable Science and Technology and an active member of the Energy and Fuels Division of the American Chemical Society. In 2005, he was named an SRI Fellow, the highest award SRI bestows on its employees for excellence in research, and in 2018, he was named a Fellow of the American Chemical Society. He was honored with Storch Award in Fuel Sciences, Energy and Fuels Division, American Chemical Society, in 2015; Glenn Award, Division of Fuel Chemistry, American Chemical Society, in 1991; and Newcomb Cleveland Prize, American Association for the Advancement of Science, in 1987.
