Tandon was born on 6 October 1950, at Lucknow. He received his BSc degree in 1969 and MSc in 1971 from Lucknow University. He obtained his PhD from Jodhpur University in 1976. In 1977, he joined the North-Eastern Hill University as a lecturer and later rose to the position of vice-chancellor. Tandon was awarded the National Scholarship for Study Abroad by Government of India and worked as a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at the University of California, Irvine, US during 1978–79 and studied the genome organization and expression of chloroplast DNA. From 1989 to 1995, the National Institute of Agro-biological Resources and several universities in Japan invited him for research work that led to a long-term collaboration on Plant Conservation Biotechnology.
Personal life
Tandon is married to Veena Tandon, a parasitologist and professor at North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, and they have a son, Prateek.
Career
Tandon was vice-chancellor of NEHU from 2005 to 2010. Under his leadership, NEHU received the distinction of 'University with Potential for Excellence' being one amongst nine such universities in the country at that time, securing an 'A' grade through reaccreditation of the university by NAAC. In addition to his position as vice-chancellor, Tandon helped in establishment of Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management, Shillong as its project director. Tandon hosted the 96th Indian Science Congress at NEHU during January 2009. Tandon served as a member of the National Advisory Council during 2010–14, where he worked extensively on development of northeastern region, a region facing many challenges including troubled history and geo-politics, environmental vulnerability and rough terrain, seclusion and insurgencies, poor infrastructure and weak governance, and limited connectivity. Tandon's research has made contributions in micropropagation, re-establishment in nature, and recovery of critically endangered endemic plants of Northeast India. His most recent studies focus on the genetic makeup of RET plants, including molecular and cytological basis of rarity of endangered plants that is useful in planning conservation strategies. Tandon has worked on biotechnological enhancement of Capsaicin biosynthesis in cell cultures of Capsicum chinense Tandon has published more than 170 research papers in journals and edited 3 books on biodiversity and biotechnology. Tandon is a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India and Indian Botanical Society and served as a member of many Academic bodies and National Task Forces including Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet, GOI.
Awards
Tandon is the recipient of a number awards and recognitions, including:
