Dr. Govind Singh Rathod was born in a humble background on 5 January 1951 in Mantha District, Jalna, which is situated in Maharashtra.
He completed his Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) from Government Dental College and Hospital, Nagpur, in the year 1977. After this, he worked diligently as a BDS Lecturer and benefited from in-service post graduation in Oral Pathology and Microbiology. He finished his Masters in Dental Surgery (MDS) from Government Dental College and Hospital, Mumbai, in 1987 under the able guidance of Dr. Venkatesh A Sabne.
Crossing the language barriers, Dr. Rathod adapted well to modern-day/contemporary English with ease.
He started his teaching career as a Lecturer, and soon after his completion of MDS, he was promoted to Associate Professor in 1988. There was no looking back for him, and he got promoted to senior positions timely due to his hard work. He was promoted to Professor and Head of Department in 1999.
His first postgraduate students were Dr. Priya Tayal and Dr. Alefiya at the Government Dental College and Hospital, Mumbai. The total number of postgraduate students that benefited from his guidance was more than 70.
His simple philosophy was that “knowledge increases with sharing”. This not only helped him but also his postgraduate students, who won many accolades under his mentorship.
After his long career of more than 25 years at government dental college (GDC) and H Mumbai, he went on to become the Principal of Rama Dental College, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, in 2008. After this, he rose to the post of Director Co-ordination in the same institute and later at PDM Dental College. This came to an end to his formal career in teaching in India. Nonetheless, he was always at the forefront of helping anyone who approached him for anything, truly being a mentor in his life.
His post-retirement phase was spent mostly in Nepal, where he worked as Professor and Head, followed by Vice Principal, at Nobel Medical College, Biratnagar.
He had notable achievements in his career. He was elected as Member of Dental Council of India from 1993 to 2000 and a Senate member from the Teacher's Constituency at Bombay University from 1995 to 2000.
He was honoured by the Rashtriya Gaurav Puraskar in 2012 New Delhi and the Indira Gandhi Excellence Award in 2013 in New Delhi.
Personal life: Dr Govind Singh married Mrs. Vanmala in 1981. They have two children (Dr. Pankaj Rathod and Dr. Dhananjay Rathod). Both his sons are well established dentists in India.
His lively side included organising cultural programmes at the Government Dental College and Hospital, Mumbai. Mr. Salman Khan (a notable Bollywood actor) was invited as the chief guest for a programme.
Dr. Rathod suffered from health issues (Kidney problems) in his last days of life. He fought against his illness, and he breathed his last on 22 April 2023.