A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in full Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (born October 15 1931 Rameswaram Indiadied July 27 2015 Shillong) Indian scientist and politician who played a leading role in the development of Indias missile and nuclear weapons programs. He was president of India from 2002 to 2007. Kalam earned a degree in aeronautical engineering from the Madras Institute of Technology and in 1958 joined the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). In 1969 he moved to the Indian Space Research Organisation where he was project director of the SLV-III the first satellite launch vehicle that was both designed and produced in India. Rejoining DRDO in 1982 Kalam planned the program that produced a number of successful missiles which helped earn him the nickname Missile Man. Among those successes was Agni Indias first intermediate-range ballistic missile which incorporated aspects of the SLV-III and was launched in 1989.