L. S. Bhat was Professor of Geography and Regional Planning at the Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi. On behalf of the Institute, he had the opportunity to be associated with the Planning Commission during 1961–74 to work on regional perspectives in national planning, regional disparities in development, evaluation of the resource endowment, and regional differentiation. In recognition of his contributions, the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi, awarded him the prestigious National Fellowship to work on special perspectives in decentralized planning. Dr Bhat has been associated with many organizations in the formulation and implementation of research and training programmes related to regional planning in geography and allied disciplines. He has a large number of publications in regional planning and related fields.