Punjab Salt Range. Nature, 153, 54. Recognition Sahni was recognised by several academies and institutions in India and abroad for his research. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London (FRS) in 1936, the highest British scientific honour, awarded for the first time to an Indian botanist. He was elected Vice-President, Palaeobotany section, of the 5th and 6th International Botanical Congresses of 1930 and 1935, respectively; General President of the Indian Science Congress for 1940; President, National Academy of Sciences, India, 1937–1939 and 1943–1944. In 1948 he was elected an Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Another high honour which came to him was his election as an Honorary President of the International Botanical Congress, Stockholm in 1950. For his work in numismatics he received the Nelson Wright Medal in 1945. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Minister of Education in 1947 offered the post of Secretary to the Ministry of Education to Sahni. This he reluctantly accepted. The Birbal Sahni Gold Medal for students of botany was instituted in his memory. A bust of Sahni is placed in the Geological Survey of India in Calcutta. Notes Cited references External links Birbal Sahni Institute 1891 births 1949 deaths Paleobotanists Indian institute directors Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of London Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy Academic staff of the University of Lucknow 20th-century Indian botanists Scientists from Lucknow 20th-century Indian geologists