A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

Dr A P J Abdul Kalam
Dr A P J Abdul Kalam
	President of India (2002-2007), A.P.J. Abdul Kalam; the picture is from the International Book Fair, Trivandrum, in 2014
President of India
	In office; 25 July 2002 – 24 July 2007
Prime Minister	Atal Bihari Vajpayee; Manmohan Singh
Vice President	Bhairon Singh Shekhawat
Preceded by	Kocheril Raman Narayanan
Succeeded by	Pratibha Devisingh Patil
Personal details
Born	15 October 1931; Rameshwaram, British India (now Tamil Nadu), India
Died	27 July 2015 (aged 83); Shillong, Meghalaya, India
Political party	Independent
Alma mater	St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli; Madras Institute of Technology
Profession	Professor, Author, scientist; Aerospace engineer

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (Tamil: அவுல் பகீர் ஜைனுலாப்தீன் அப்துல் கலாம்; pronunciation (help·info); 15 October 1931 – 27 July 2015) usually known as A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, was a famous Indian aerospace engineer. He was the 11th President of India, from 2002 to 2007.^[1]

When he was president, he was popularly known as the People's President. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour in 1997. He has also been a professor (of aerospace engineering). Kalam is the first Chancellor of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology Thiruvananthapuram (IIST). He is called as the "Missile Man" of India.^[2]

Death

Abdul Kalam died on July 27, 2015 (07:45 Indian Standard Time GMT+5:30) at Bethany Hospital, Shillong after having collapsed due to cardiac arrest during a lecture he was giving at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM).^[3]^[4]