Professor (Indian Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar)
Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra Award 2011, Padma Shri 2005, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award 1994, Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi 1993, 2nd Nrutyangada Samman.

Kumkum Mohanty an allied service officer (Indian postal Service) has given a new orientation to the style of Odissi Dance and Music and as the Chief Executive of the Odissi Research Centre . The Odissi Research Centre participated in all prestigious dance Festivals in India and abroad under her leadership.
Ms.Mohanty also participated in all prestigious music Conferences and Dance Festivals till 2004. All India Dance Festival, Khajuraho Festival, Krishnagana Sabha, Swami Haridas Samilan, Elora Festival, Ganga Mahotsav, Konark Dance Festivals are few of them. She also performed in ICCR Cultural Exchange Programmes in USSR,Germany, U.K., USA, Japan, Indonesia and cultural Festival of India in Parish in 1987. She is the disciple of the Great Guru, Padma Bhusana Guru Kelu Charan Mohapatra.		Padmashree, Govt. of India – 2008 State Sangeet Natak Akademi Award – 1993 Central Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1997
Doctorate from Utkal University, Odisha in 2010 Honorary Citizenship from the Mayor, City of Baltimore in 1988

Gangadhar Pradhan (10 July 1948 – 10 October 2010) was an eminent Odissi (Orissi) exponent and teacher, who founded the Konark Natya Mandap in Konark Puri in 1986 and organised dance festivals in the temple city. He had several leading dancer-disciples, besides earning top national and international honours.

He founded "Odissa Dance Academy" which acts as an umbrella organisation for some 33 other cultural organisations both in India and abroad, including Chitralekha Dance Academy Toronto, Centre for World Music San Diego, an institution in Amsterdam, Holland, Sangeeta Nritya Academy-Assam and Purva-Baroda.

Guru Ramani Ranjan Jena was trained by many gurus in Odissi including Mayadhar Raut, Kelucharan Mahapatra and Raghunath Dutta at Kala Vikash Kendra in Cuttack where he obtained a Master’s degree in Odissi. He was trained as a dancer and used to give several solo performances in the early sixties.

It was Y.G. Doraiswamy, who saw his performance and suggested that he should move to Chennai to perform Odissi and teach there to local Bharatanatyam dancers. Ramani Ranjan Jena taught privately and later on in 1977 he was engaged to teach Odissi at Kalakshetra where he taught for three years till 1980. During his stay in Chennai, he taught Kshama Rau, daughter of Gyanpith awardee Sivaram Karanth who revived Yakshagana dance form of Karnataka. Ramani Ranjan Jena also taught well known Bharatanatyam exponent Malavika Sarukkai. He used to perform duets with his students in Chennai and had performed duets with Malavika Sarukkai.