Tessy Thomas Age, Husband, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Names Earned	India’s Missile Woman, Agni Putri (the daughter of fire) [1]India Today
Profession	Scientist, Director General (Aeronautical Systems) at DRDO
Physical Stats & More
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Black
Personal Life
Date of Birth	April 1963
Age (as of 2022)	59 Years
Birthplace	Thathampally, Alappuzha, Kerala, India
Signature
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Alappuzha, Kerala, India
School	• St Michael’s Higher Secondary School, Alappuzha, Kerala • St. Joseph’s Girls Higher Secondary School, Alappuzha, Kerala
College/University	• University of Calicut, Kerala • Institute of Armament Technology (now Defence Institute of Advanced Technology), Pune, Maharashtra • Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), Hyderabad, Telangana • Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi
Educational Qualification	• B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from the University of Calicut, Kerala • M.Tech in Guided Missiles from the Institute of Armament Technology (now Defence Institute of Advanced Technology), Pune, Maharashtra • PhD in Missile Guidance from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), Hyderabad, Telangana • MBA in Operations Management from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi [2]DRDO
Religion	Christianity Note: She is a Roman Catholic [3]BBC
Ethnicity	She belongs to a Syrian-Christian Malayali family hailing from Alappuzha, Kerala. [4]The Telegraph
Controversy	Brushed aside a sexual harassment probe against a senior scientist at DRDO In 2018, Tessy was accused of hushing up a sexual harassment investigation against a senior scientist. The accusations were levied on Tessy by a former researcher at DRDO’s high-profile missile unit in Hyderabad. Apparently, Tessy intimidated the victim to withdraw the complaint; therefore, she was forced to escalate the matter to headquarters. In her defence against the accusations, Tessy said, It does not seem to be a genuine case and we had formed a committee to investigate. The charges were not found to be true” Thereafter, the victim, who was working with DRDO on a contract, was terminated from service. [5]The Economic Times
Food Habit	Non-vegetarian [6]The Telegraph
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Married
Family
Husband/Spouse	Saroj Kumar Patel (a navy officer)
Children	Son-Tejas Patel (Former Manager at Ernst & Young) Daughter-None
Parents	Father- Taiparambil Thomas Mother- Kunjamma Thomas (teacher-turned-homemaker) Note: Her father, Taiparambil Thomas, suffered a paralytic stroke when Tessy was in Class 8 after which he was left bedridden. His occupation is conflicting. Some media houses have stated that he was an IFS officer [7]India Today, while others have stated that he was a small businessman [8]BBC. Although her mother was a learned teacher, she was not working when Tessy's father suffered the paralytic stroke. Later, she single-handedly raised Tessy and her five siblings.
Siblings	Tessy has five siblings, four sisters and a brother.

Some Lesser Known Facts About Tessy Thomas

• Tessy Thomas is an Indian scientist who became the Director General of Aeronautical Systems in the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in 2018. She was the Project Director for the DRDO’s Agni-IV missile. She is the first-ever woman scientist to head a missile project in India. ^[9]The New Indian Express

• Her parents named her after Mother Teresa, Tessy being a derivative of Teresa or Tressia. ^[10]DD News – YouTube ^[11]India Today

• Her fascination with rockets and missiles began during childhood, growing up near the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station. Mathematics and Science were her favourite subjects at school. All of these factors led her to pursue a non-medical science stream.

• She had a difficult childhood with her father, the sole earning member of the family, being bedridden, and her mother who unaided had to raise six children.

• In an interview, she revealed that she took an education loan of Rs. 100 per month from the State Bank of India to study Engineering.
  

  Tessy Thomas in her early adulthood

• After her B.tech, she wrote the Civil Services Exam to become an IAS officer, but she cleared the DRDO interview the same day and instead pursued a DRDO-sponsored M.Tech in Guided Missiles.

• Tessy Thomas first met Saroj Kumar Patel while studying at the Institute of Armament Technology (now called the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology) in Pune.

• In 1986, she started working as a faculty member at the Institute of Armament Technology (IAT), Pune (now Defence Institute of Advanced Technology) in Guided Missiles.

• She joined the Defence Research & Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad, in 1988, where she was a junior under Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, who took over as DRDL’s director for a couple of years before moving on.

• At DRDO, she was associated with the ambitious project of developing the Agni Programme from the beginning. She is the designer of the guidance scheme for long-range missile systems which is used in all Agni missiles. Thomas was the associate project director of the 3,000 km range Agni-III and project director for mission Agni IV missile projects. Later, Thomas served as the project director of Agni-V, which was successfully tested on 19 April 2012.
  

  A group photo of the team of AGNI-IV missile including DRDO Chief Shri Avinash Chander and the Project Director, AGNI-IV, Tessy Thomas at the launch of AGNI-IV, the Ballistic Missile from the Wheeler Island off the coast of Odisha on 20 January 2014

• From 2014 to 2018, while serving as the Director of Advanced Systems Laboratory at DRDO, she held multi-dimensional roles and responsibilities, leading the development of a strategic missile system.

• In 2018, she assumed the position of Government Nominee Director at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

• In an interview, she said that ironing clothes was a great stress-buster for her.

• In an interview, she revealed that she is fond of typical Indian “Saas and Bahu” TV soaps. Although the hobby seems unusual for a woman who loves science, she said that loves watching TV serials in her leisure time. While talking about the same in an interview, she said,
  

  That is how I unwind. I like the way the actors are all so well-dressed and neatly turned out…my husband says the same thing, how do you watch these serials? But I like them.”

• She loves playing badminton and was a champion in the sport at school and college.

• In a 2017 tweet, the chairman of Mahindra Group, Anand Mahindra, said that Tessy Thomas, the first woman to head an Indian missile project, deserves to be more famous than any Bollywood star.