Shyam Singh Shashi

Shyam Singh Shashi is an Indian anthropologist, social scientist, Academic and writer.[1][2] After securing a master's degree in Man Management and Manpower Planning from Manchester University, he obtained a doctoral degree from Agra University for his thesis on Himalayan nomads, the first person to get a PhD from the university.[3] Starting his career as a government servant, he took voluntary retirement midway through his service and joined the International Institute of Culture and Languages as the chairman of their Media Research and Encyclopedia divisions where he is reported to have edited Encyclopedia of Humanities and Social Sciences (50 vols),[4] Encyclopedia of Indian Tribes (12 vols),[5] Encyclopedia of World Women (10 vols)[6] and Encyclopedia Indica (150 vols).[7] He has also written several poem anthologies, travelogues, children's books and anthropological books,[8][9] over 300 publications in total,[2] and The World of Nomads[10] Ekla Chalo RE [11] Roma: The Gypsy World[12] and Socio-History of Ex-Criminal Communities OBC's[13] are some of his notable works.

Shashi is a visiting professor at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), the president of the International Academy of Children's Literature and chairs International Institute for the Study of Nomadic Civilizations.[3] He served as the honorary editor of Collected Works of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar which was published in eight Indian languages by the Indian government.[3] He is a member of the jury for the Delhi Gaurav Awards.[14] The University of Colombo honoured him with DLitt (honoris causa), making him the first recipient of DLitt from the university in Anthropology.[3] The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian award of Padma Shri in 1990.[15]