Dr. Prithwi Raj Bishnoi Ph.D., fondly known as Raj passed away peacefully on December 22, 2025 at the age of 88. He is survived by his wife Uma and their children Meena and Sanjay; his sisters Gyan, Usha and Savitri; his grandchildren Arjun, Anjali, Rajesh, and Anya and many other loving family members and friends. He was preceded in death by his brothers Om and Anil and his sister Saraswati.
Raj was born in Bikaner, India. He was the second eldest of 7 children. He graduated from the University of Bombay, where he obtained his Bachelor of Chemical Engineering and Master of Science Technology in Chemical Engineering. In 1964, he came to Edmonton, Canada for graduate studies at the University of Alberta.
In 1965, he met Uma in Edmonton. They shared a passion for hiking which became a lifelong love of the outdoors. They married in 1967. The wedding was thought to be the first Hindu wedding ceremony conducted in Edmonton. Meena and Sanjay were born a few years later.
After earning a doctorate in Chemical Engineering at the University of Alberta, Raj worked in industry for a few years and then secured a tenure tracking position at the University of Calgary. Raj was an accomplished professor and researcher at University of Calgary for almost 30 years. He was a highly regarded scientist who became one of the world’s leading researchers in the area of gas hydrates. He was broadly recognized in his field by organizations such as APEGA, the American Gas Association, and the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering. He was also a founder of Hyprotech (currently Aspen Hysys) a visionary company that revolutionized process simulation and engineering worldwide. In his retirement, Raj continued to research as an emeritus professor at the University of Calgary.
Raj enjoyed an active lifestyle with his family. He was an experienced hiker, a voracious reader, a dedicated practitioner of yoga, a lover of Indian classical music, and a passionate photographer. Prithwi Raj was also a spiritual man, who translated the Sabadwani, a Bishnoi holy text, and was recognized by many Hindu and Bishnoi scholars for his work.
A Celebration of Life ceremony will be held in the Spring of 2026. The family will share details in the coming weeks.
2 Comments
Dr. Bishnoi was my PhD supervisor and I have many fond memories of our conversations about engineering, yoga and other topics. Dr. Bishnoi will be missed by myself and by my colleagues in the Department of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering at the University of Calgary.
My deepest condolences to Uma, Meena, & Sanjay.
I was neighbours with the Bishnois in the early 80s and was good friends with Sanjay, so I was over at their place a lot. Dr. Bishnoi had a DEC terminal to connect to a UofC mainframe and allowed/encouraged us to use it, so that’s where I wrote my first program in BASIC. Raj had a major impact on my life by setting me on the trajectory for a long career in software.