C. R. Rao was born on September 10, 1920, in Huvina Hadagali, India. He earned several degrees: M.A. degree in mathematics at the Andhra University in Waltair, Andhra Pradesh (1941), with first class and first rank. M. A. degree in statistics from Calcutta University in Kolkata, West Bengal (1943), with first class, first rank, and record marks unbeaten till now; further with a gold medal. Ph.D. at Cambridge University, UK (1948). Sc.D. by peer review of published work, Cambridge University, UK (1965). He is most famous for his work in statistics, but he did make major contributions to design theory. Between 1952 and 2001, he had 51 PhD students and while many are statisticians, several are design and graph theorists. He was elected an Honorary Fellow of the ICA with the citation "as the world's leading expert in statistical design theory" in 1995. In September 2020, the Indian Statistical Institute Retired Employees' Association Pays Homage to ...