Alla Venkata Rama Rao is an Indian inventor and chemist, known for his pioneering researches in the field of drug technology. He is the founder of the A. V. Rama Rao Research Foundation, a non governmental organization promoting research and doctoral studies in chemistry and Avra Laboratories, an organization dealing in intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients, used in therapeutics. An elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, Indian Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, India, and Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), Rama Rao is a recipient of several awards such as TWAS Technology Award, VASVIK Industrial Research Award and Om Prakash Bhasin Award. The Government of India awarded him Padma Shri in 1991 and Padma Bhushan in 2016. He was born on 2 April 1935 in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India. Alla Venkata Rama Rao received BSc (Chemistry) from Andhra University, BSc (Technology) (1960) in Pharmaceuticals and Fine Chemicals from Bombay University, and PhD (Technology) (1964) while working at National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), Pune under the supervision of K Venkataraman. During the early part of his stay at NCL, Rama Rao worked on the isolation and structural elucidation of plant and insect pigments, and on synthetic dyes. After his return from Harvard University, his researches were marked by some amazing achievements in the synthesis of biologically active natural products such as antitumor antibiotics, macrolide, immunosuppressants, cyclic peptides, etc. representing complexity, diversity and aesthetics of modern asymmetric synthesis. Rama Rao published more than 260 Research papers and mentored 109 Ph D students in organic synthesis.