In Memoriam

My Mamu (maternal uncle), Bijay Mahapatra left this mortal coil in September 2009 and merged with the divine. A wonderful person of total humility and compassion, Bijay Mamu was loved by one and all.

Born in Berhampur, Odisha, he was the 10th child of 12 of Gopinath Mahapatra and Rahasa Mahapatra. After high school and college, he went to I.I.T. Kharagpur and graduated in 1964 in Civil Engineering. He left for the University of British Columbia, Vancouver for higher studies that same year. After graduate school, he moved to New York for further studies at Columbia University, NY. He started his career at many marquee companies such as Control Data, Boeing, and Intel. He also lived in Washington DC for many years before moving west to San Jose bay area in 1998 as part of his job at Intel’s high-performance computing group.

He is survived by his wife Jayanti and son Srijoy.

He never spoke a harsh word to anyone; always positive and smiling, he was ready to help anyone at any time, unconditionally. He was an active member of OSA from its beginning in the east coast and a regular
attendee at the annual OSA conventions. One can never forget him after just one meeting.

His life reminds each of us to cultivate qualities of love, compassion, and egolessness.

His final journey to the abode of peace was extremely tranquil. While he laughed on his last breath, we all cried for him – a true sign of a great man and his legacy.

— Prashant Padhy

Dr. Jagannath Prasad Das completed his life’s journey peacefully at home on October 19, 2025. He is remembered lovingly by his family, friends, students, colleagues, and all those whose lives he touched. He will be dearly missed, but his legacy will live on through his work and in all of our hearts.

Jagannath, or JP, as he was known to many, was born in Puri, Odisha, India on January 20, 1931. His life was deeply influenced by his parents’ Vaishnava faith, and their adherence to the life of simplicity, kindness and compassion preached by Mahatma Gandhi. After completing his PhD in psychology from the University of London and spending time as a professor in India and the United States, he came to Canada in 1968 and made Edmonton his home.

Dr. Das was a distinguished scholar, educator, and colleague whose contributions profoundly shaped the fields of educational psychology and cognitive development. He joined the University of Alberta in 1968 and served for decades as a professor and as Director of what would later be named in his honour—the J.P. Das Centre on Developmental and Learning Disabilities. His pioneering work led to the development of the PASS theory of intelligence and the Das–Naglieri Cognitive Assessment System, innovations that continue to influence research and practice internationally.

Despite a life marked by the rigours of academic pursuit—a pursuit that earned him the Order of Canada and fellowship in the Royal Society of Canada—Jagannath was also deeply devoted to his family, including his parents and brothers who predeceased him. He delighted in spending time with children and hearing their laughter. His love of nature and humanity, his curiosity about the world, and his unfailing warmth and kindness made him beloved by all who encountered him.

Jagannath is survived by his wife of 70 years, Gita, children Satya (Mita) and Sheela, granddaughters Silpi (Shawn) and Somya, and his cherished great-grandsons Krishan and Mihir. They are his legacy.

Nagabhusan Senapati was a brilliant engineer of Orissa State in India.  A meritorious student, he studied Mechanical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagapur, India, and then continued with his doctoral work at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA, USA.  He joined as a Staff Scientist in Battelle Memorial Institute at Columbus, Ohio and lived there most of his adult life.  His research into the applications of ultra-sonic technology led him to high accolades and thirty patents.

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Nagabhusan was known for his amiability, modesty, friendliness and utter sincerity.  He was deeply admired and loved by his family and friends.  His untimely death has left behind a void in the scholarly world of Orissa and among his neighbors in Columbus, his friends in school and college and his relatives.  With the support of his family, a few friends have joined together to offer this memorial website in order to help to recant his esteemed memory and build together a life story of scholarship, intimacy and service to the world.