The son of Mr. R.D. Tata and his French wife, Jehangir R.D. Tata was born in France in 1904 and educated at Janson Besailly, Paris. In 1925 he joined Tata and Sons, of which his father was a founding Director, together with Dorabji and Ratanji (R.J.) Tata. On his father's death in 1926, Mr. J. R. D. Tata became a director of Tata Sons. In 1932, at his initiative, the Airlines Division of Tata Sons was started. Tata Airlines marked the birth of regular air transportation in the Indian subcontinent. The airline finally evolved into Air India, of which, after nationalization, Mr. J. R. D. Tata remained Chairman till 1978. In 1938, the Directors of Tata Sons, all senior to him, elected him as the Chairman of the Tata Group - at that time, the largest industrial group of companies in India.Jehangir R.D. Tata, affectionately known as "JRD," played a critical role in increasing India's scientific, medical and artistic quotient. The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, The Tata Memorial Hospital, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, the National Institute of Advanced Studies, and the National Centre for the Performing Arts, each an exemplar of excellence in its field, were projects that could not have come to fruition without the steadfast support of JRD. He was married to Thelma in 1930. When JRD died in Geneva on November 29, 1993, everyone agreed that a noble son of India had passed on.
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