If you ask anyone at Adelphi University who knew him, Professor Gottipaty Rao, PhD, had a passion for physics, and he loved nothing more than sharing with students his love for the study of matter and energy and how they interact.
He devoted decades of his life to teaching in and leading the Adelphi University Department of Physics, where he was instrumental in developing a strong and continuously growing program. Dr. Rao died on January 20, 2026, at the age of 89.
Gottipaty Rao, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Physics
Dr. Rao joined Adelphi in 1990 and served almost continuously as chair of the Department of Physics from 1992 until 2015. He retired from teaching at Adelphi in May 2023. His areas of specialization were broad, ranging from developing high-sensitivity sensors for environmental, defense, industrial and homeland security applications, to laser spectroscopy, to nuclear physics. He supervised 10 PhD dissertations, was invited to give lectures worldwide, authored and edited a multitude of scholarly works, and, in 2012, was awarded two U.S. patents for innovations in trace gas detection technology. A selection of Dr. Rao’s published research can be seen on Adelphi’s Scholarly Works website.
Dr. Rao helped create the framework for Adelphi’s Horace G. McDonell Science Research Fellowship program that awarded outstanding science students a stipend to spend 10 summer weeks conducting original research in University labs.
Prior to joining Adelphi, Dr. Rao’s academic career included appointments across three continents. He served for many years at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, where he began as a lecturer and later became chair of physics. He held visiting and research positions at the University of California Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; the University of Bonn; KU Leuven; and the French Atomic Energy Commission in Grenoble. He attended Andhra University in Visakhapatnam, India, where he earned a BS in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics and went on to earn his MS and PhD in Physics from Aligarh University in Aligarh, India.
Dr. Rao’s colleague Matthew Wright, PhD, professor and chair of the Adelphi Department of Physics, recalls his impact. “The thing that I remember most about Professor Rao is that he loved physics, optics and lasers!” Dr. Wright said, describing one evening during his first year as a professor when he saw Dr. Rao in the hallway of Blodgett Hall teaching students to modulate a laser to send signals. He said Dr. Rao, standing beside the laser, was animatedly transforming the space into an impromptu classroom filled with curiosity and energy.
“He was laughing. The students were laughing. It was the Hollywood version of what you would expect from a physics lab course: discovery, excitement and joy.”
As his final gift to Adelphi’s physics students, Dr. Rao specified that, in lieu of flowers for his memorial service, donations be made to the Adelphi University Physics Scholarship Fund.