Message to the Global NLP Community
From: NLP Association of India (NLPAI)
Dear NLP Community,
It is with profound sadness that we inform you of the passing of Professor Pushpak Bhattacharyya, former President of both NLP Association of India (NLPAI) and the Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL), and a towering figure in the global NLP community.
Over three decades, Professor Bhattacharyya made transformative contributions to Natural Language Processing worldwide. His pioneering research and influential publications earned international recognition, while his leadership as ACL President advanced the field's global agenda. He was instrumental in fostering collaboration between researchers across continents, organizing international conferences and workshops, and ensuring that multilingual perspectives shaped the future of NLP research.
In India, he founded and led the Centre for Indian Language Technology (CFILT) at IIT Bombay, pioneered IndoWordNet, and championed the integration of Indian languages into global AI research. As Director of IIT Patna, he built institutional frameworks that prioritized language diversity and linguistic equity. His vision elevated India to a vital center for NLP research while strengthening ties between Indian scholars and the international community.
His influence extended far beyond his own scholarship. He mentored generations of researchers, many of whom have become leaders in our field. His warmth as a colleague, generosity as a mentor, and tireless commitment to ensuring NLP research reflected the world's linguistic richness made him beloved across institutions and borders. He believed deeply that NLP should serve all languages and all people, and he worked to make that vision a reality through international partnerships and collaborative research.
Professor Bhattacharyya's passing while still in active service is a tremendous loss to the global community. His legacy endures through the researchers he inspired worldwide, the institutions he built, the international collaborations he fostered, and the inclusive vision he championed.
With deep respect and shared grief,
The NLP Association of India
October 06, 2025
