He is Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Plant Biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he taught from 1961 until 1999.

[3] After Emerson died in a plane crash,[4] Govindjee completed his PhD work in biophysics with Eugene Rabinowitch.

Govindjee has not only provided the first comprehensive theory of thermoluminescence in algae and plants, but has shown how prompt and delayed fluorescence of Chlorophyll a can be used as a signature of various reactions in photosynthesis.

[11] In 2018, Govindjee was elected as the Pravasi (Foreign) Fellow[12] of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, India, and in honor of his 85th birthday, a special issue of Photosynthetica was released.

[14] In 2020, Govindjee's innovative research and historical contributions, during 1999–2020, were highlighted, with messages and references to his work, from around the world.

[15][16] Govindjee and his wife, Rajni, came to the US separately in the mid-1950s and earned Ph.D. degrees at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, studying under the same mentors.