Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen "A. P. J." Abdul Kalam (/ˈæbdʊl kəˈlɑːm/; 15 October 1931 – 27 July 2015) was the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. A career scientist turned reluctant politician, Kalam was born and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, and studied physics and aerospace engineering. He spent the next four decades as a scientist and science administrator, mainly at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and was intimately involved in India's civilian space program and military missile development efforts.He thus came to be known as the Missile Man of India for his work on the development ofballistic missile and launch vehicle technology. He also played a pivotal organizational, technical, and political role in Indi