Jamshed Jehangir Bhabha was born on August 21, 1914.

Bhabha belonged to an illustrious family with a long tradition of learning and service to the country. His grandfather Dr. Hormusji Bhabha was the First Indian Inspector-General of Education in British India. His paternal aunt was Meherbai, Sir Dorabji Tata’s wife.

He attended the Cathedral School in Bombay and in 1930, passed the Cambridge School Leaving Examination with Distinction. In 1931, he passed the Cambridge High School Examination with Distinction standing First in French in the British Empire Overseas.

A Cambridge graduate with a Historical Tripos, Jamshed Bhabha was due to take the Bar Finals at Lincolns Inn, London, when the outbreak of hostilities interrupted his studies and brought him back to India in 1939.

He joined Tata Steel the following year and became Assistant Chief Town Administrator at Jamshedpur in 1941.

Jamshed was appointed Personal Assistant to the Chairman, J.R.D. Tata in 1942, and thus began a close professional association with him.

Jamshed Bhabha married Betty Irene in 1946.

He was Chairman and Director of several Tata Companies including the parent company Tata Sons Limited and a Director of Tata Industries Limited.

During his tenure Bhabha was also Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Managing Trustee and Trustee of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, J. N. Tata Endowment for the Higher Education of Indians, Jamsetji Tata Trust, Lady Tata Memorial Trust, Lady Meherbai D. Tata Education Trust, J.R.D. Tata and the other allied Trusts.

His active involvement in the Tata Group was evident all the way from heavy industries, through publishing, personnel management, power generation, engineering, social sciences and from trade fairs to philanthropy.

Jamshed Bhabha played a pivotal role in the setting up of the Tata Central Archives.

In 1969, he launched his most recent and ambitious single venture - the National Centre for the Performing Arts, a multi-crore project to serve the national purpose of protecting, preserving and developing India’s immensely rich legacy in the arts and culture.

He was also a Trustee of the Homi Bhabha Memorial Trust which was established on the premature demise of his brother, Dr. Homi Bhabha, to provide scholarships for young Indians of truly outstanding merit for further studies and research in their respective fields.

Despite the pressing preoccupation with several branches of industry, Jamshed was equally involved in various public causes.

The Knight Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, Knight Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Commander of the Order of the Crown, Belgium and the Doctorate of Literature, Honorius Causa, of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences were some of the awards bestowed on Jamshed Bhabha.