An accomplished scholar, author, teacher, and philosopher statesman, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (b.1888–d.1975) was the second President of India from 1962 to 1967. Radhakrishnan was born in Tirutani, Andhra Pradesh into a Brahmin family. He had his early education at Tirupati and Vellore. He graduated from Madras Christian College (1907) and also finished his Masters from the same college (1909). He started his distinguished career in teaching by joining the Department of Philosophy at Madras Presidency College (1909) and then as a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Mysore (1918), after two years he joined the University of Calcutta (1920). In 1921, Radhakrishnan took up the prestigious George V Chair in Philosophy at Calcutta University. He was invited to Oxford to give the 1926 Upton Lectures, published in 1927 as The Hindu View of Life, and in 1929 Radhakrishnan delivered the Hibbert Lectures, later published under the title An Idealist View of Life. Radhakrishnan was knighted in 1931, the same year he became Vice Chancellor of the newly founded, Andhra University at Waltair. He served there for five years and in 1936, Oxford University appointed him to the H.N. Spalding Chair of Eastern Religions and Ethics. In late 1939, Radhakrishnan took up the Vice Chancellorship at Benares Hindu University (BHU) and served there till mid-January 1948. Shortly after his resignation from BHU, Radhakrishnan was named Chairman of the University Education Commission. The Commission's 1949 Report assessed the state of university education and made recommendations for its improvement in the newly independent India. Radhakrishnan was actively involved in UNESCO, serving on its Executive Board as well as leading the Indian delegation from 1946-1951. He also served for two years as a member of the Indian Constituent Assembly. In 1949, Radhakrishnan was appointed as Indian Ambassador to Moscow, a post he held until 1952. With his election to the Rajya Sabha, he served as India's Vice President (1952-1962) and later as President (1962-1967). Dr. Radhakrishnan's philosophy was grounded in Advaita Vedanta and throughout his life and extensive writing career, he sought to define, defend and promulgate Hinduism and demonstrate that it was both philosophically coherent and ethically viable. He defended Hinduism against what he called ‘uniformed Western criticism' and earned a reputation as a bridge-builder between India and the West.