Tuhina Ray (formerly Ghose) read physics at Presidency College, she was the recipient of the Bhabatarini Medal and Bhranti Basu Medal in 1947, and of the Roxburgh Gold Medal in 1949, the best university student at the postgraduate level award in science in 1953, she obtained a D.Phil. from the University of Calcutta in 1956, and was appointed as a Reader at the Saha Institute of Fundamental Research. Forced by political circumstances, she and her family left India in 1967 and she held research positions in academic institutions of France and Germany. A keen sportswoman in her student days, her broad interests and erudition took her to diverse horizons. She passed away in 2018.

Urmie Ray read mathematics at the University of Cambridge, U.K., completing her Ph.d. under the guidance of Professor J. G. Thompson. After 20 years as an academic mathematician, she resigned her professorship in France to dedicate herself to her lifelong interests in cultural and historical questions in order to better understand current issues.