LUCKNOW : On May 13 the newly-appointed Lucknow University vice-chancellor S B Nimse formally took over the top office of the university here.

Chancellor B L Joshi had, on April 29, appointed him as the vice-chancellor, choosing him from a panel of three names. He succeed IAS officer G B Pattanaik who had been officiating as the VC since November 2, 2012.

Pattanaik who was the principal secretary to the Governor-Chancellor, the faculty feared, may be confirmed as the VC, but the UGC regulations had made the move difficult.

Nimse, the VC of Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University (SRTMU), Vishunpuri, Nanded, Maharashtra since July 2008 has accepted a difficult assignment.

A Ph.D in mathematics, with 34 years of teaching experience, Nimse is a member of the governing council of the Consultancy Development Centre, DSIR and also a member of the steering committee for XII plan on higher education, Planning Commission.

Nimse's appointment has activated the campus whisper-mongers, each giving his own explanation to the new Maratha connection, but investigations revealed that it was Prof R C Sobti the president of the Indian Science Congress who probably showed Nimse the way to Lucknow University. 

The Chancellor by another order appointed V K Gupta as the new vice-chancellor of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University (RMLAU), Faizabad.

Gupta, at present, is the head of chemistry department, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee. He will succeed officiating VC Prof PK Sinha from department of economics, RMLAU.

Prof Sinha was appointed on November 1, 2012, for a period of six months after Prof R C Saraswat resigned on October 30 citing personal reasons.

A B.Sc from Meerut University in 1972, Gupta did MSc in physical chemistry from University of Roorkee in 1975. In 1979, he joined PhD in physical chemistry from University of Roorkee.

Sobti takes over at Lucknow's Ambedkar varsity

LUCKNOW : On January 21 Prof R C Sobti, former vice-chancellor of Panjab University, Chandigarh formally took over as the Vice-Chancellor of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow.

The university is a Central university with President Pranab Mukherjee as its Visitor. His appointment is for a term of five years and he replaces Prof B Hanumaiah who was on an extension after the completion of his tenure since June 17, 2012.

On his first day, the Dr Sobti interacted with students, teachers and employees. He said effort would be made to take the university to a new high.

Two-time vice-chancellor of Panjab University Chandigarh Prof Sobti's  appointment was made on January 15.

Well-connected Dr Sobti was appointed Panjab University vice-chancellor in 2006 for a term of three years. Before his term could conclude he was appointed, in February 2009, the first VC of the newly established Central University of Himachal Pradesh but he did not join because he got a second term in Panjab University.

After the conclusion of his second term on July 22, (though he was in the race for a third term) he was offered vice-chancellorship of the newly established DAV University in Jalandhar which he hasn't joined till date.

On January 6 he was elected the general president of Indian Science Congress Association for the 101st session to be held on January 3-7, 2014.  He is a member of the executive body of National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), Bangalore and the chairman of the governing body of National Council of Science Museums.

He holds a doctoral degree in Biotechnology and has supervised 44 PhDs and is currently working on eight others.

R Thandavan takes over as Madras varsity VC

CHENNAI On January 18, Prof R. Thandavan formally took over as the 43rd vice-chancellor of the University of Madras.

All well-wishers and admirers, mostly university staff gathered at the vice-chancellor's office to congratulate him. “I know about every nook and corner of the university, except the VC’s office,” said Prof. Thandavan with a smile.

The former professor was informed a week ago about his selection for the post of VC, but was waiting to meet the Chief Minister before he assumed charge, sources said.

The 62-year-old was the founding faculty member of the Anna Centre of Public Affairs at the university, where he served as the head.

“He has been elected to the Syndicate thrice, and has also been part of the Senate. He knows ninety per cent of the people here by their name so he has support from both the teaching and non-teaching staff,” a professor said. However, professors also added that he has the responsibility of bringing together the several factions of the university.

On the controversial issue of exam malpractices at the university, Prof. Thandavan said he was yet to receive the report from K. Aludiapillai, a retired IAS officer who was looking into the matter.

The VC said appointing the registrar and filling up vacancies was at the top of his task list. “But it will be done by issuing advertisements without any interference from anybody,” he said.

Prof. Thandavan also said there were several new courses in the offing, particularly in the area of humanities and pure sciences. “I know almost everyone in this university. I have been here for many years, and I am aware of the university’s strengths and weaknesses. I will try to convince everybody to work together,” he added.

K S Rangappa takes over as Mysore varsity VC

MYSORE : On January 11 Prof K S Rangappa took over as the 24th vice-chancellor of the University of Mysore, from the acting VC Prof B Shivaraj.

Rangappa told reporters that he got a call from the Governor-Chancellor H R Bhardwaj in the morning, appointing him as the vice-chancellor.

Rangappa, who is the incumbent VC of Karnataka State Open University (KSOU), succeeds Prof V G Talawar, who retired on December 10.

S Ramakrishnan is Vikram Sarabhai Centre boss

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : S. Ramakrishnan, ‘distinguished scientist’ at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has taken over as Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram.

Mr. Ramakrishnan, with over four decades of experience in rocketry, took over from P.S. Veeraraghavan after heading the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) for two years.

Mr. Ramakrishnan is an expert in aerospace propulsion, launch vehicle systems, and project management. Before taking leadership of LPSC, he was Director (projects) at VSSC and chairman, flight readiness review panel. He had played a key role in accomplishing the PSLV C-11/Chandrayaan Missions.

Following in the footsteps of A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Mr. Ramakrishnan played a key role in realising India’s first satellite launch vehicle SLV-3. . The country had honoured him with a Padma Shri in 2003.

Arun Grover takes over at Panjab University

CHANDIGARH : On July 23 Arun Grover took over as the 12th Vice-Chancellor of Panjab University and in his very first move he removed his special officer (SO) Santosh Chopra and appointed S L Verma, a retired officer, in his place. It is the VC’s discretion to appoint the SO.

Verma was the SO during Dr K N Pathak's term and Grover being Pathak's student probably took the cue from him.

Soon after taking over Grover announced his priorities and said that he would promote research. He said said special focus would be given to new research projects for which a strategy would be devised and teachers will be compelled to go on sabbatical leave to pursue research.

Grover comes from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) where he had initiated a best thesis award to promote research.

“I think research output in the PU needs to be enhanced which can be done when teachers get enough time for the same,” Grover said. The new VC said he had been informed that the PU was going through faculty crunch and in such a case, the overburdened teachers don’t get enough time to pursue research. “The problem of faculty shortage would be addressed on priority,” he said. Grover said after every six-year of service, teachers are entitled to get one-year sabbatical leave to pursue research and the university would encourage teachers to take sabbatical leave.

The VC said experienced researchers should also stay in the PU after their retirement to help the university grow in the field of research. The PU is now
going to work out a strategy that would involve teachers as well as the students for pursuing research.

A policy for the PU-affiliated colleges will be devised so that college teachers contribute in research. “The PU is fortunate to have around 190 affiliated colleges and the teachers can make a great contribution to research,” Grover added.

Grover was appointed Panjab University vice-chancellor on June 29.

His appointment is expected to bring in a puff of fresh air from research-rich TIFR and stop, for once, in-house appointments that has led to malignant faculty inbreeding on the campus. 

Grover's appointment by the Chancellor Dr Hamid Ansari breaks a long stream of "insider" appointments which is abhorred worldwide in all top academic institutions, including India for various time-tested reasons.

In Panjab University however, following the son-of-the-soil policy the previous six VCs had been elevated from the university faculty, including R C Sobti, K N Pathak, M M Puri, T N Kapoor, R P Bambah and R C Pal -- and many of them got more than one term, pushing the inbreeding paradigm with impunity.

The outgoing vice-chancellor R C Sobti quit the office on July 22.

Grover has beaten eight contenders most prominent of them being the Sobti himself who was angling for a third term using the G K Chadda-PMO axis.

A product of Panjab University, Grover studied at the physics department of the university from 1968 to 1972.

While at TIFR, Grover came to PU on deputation between 1991 and 1994 to teach. Under the then VC Prof KN Pathak, he designed a course in material science for the students of M Phil, MSc and BSc.

Grover’s field is solid state physics - a branch of physics that deals with the structure and properties of solids.

Grover has also been elected fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore, and the National Academy of Science, New Delhi.

IIT-Kgp don to be new Jadavpur varsity VC

CALCUTTA : A professor pf Physics at IIT Kharagpur, Dr Souvik Bhattacharya, will be the new vice-chancellor of Jadavpur University, Satish Tiwary, Principal Secretary Higher Education said on July 4.

He becomes the second academician, after Suranjan Das of Calcutta University, to be selected for the VC’s post at a state university.

“Souvik Bhattacharya is going to be appointed vice-chancellor of Jadavpur University. Necessary orders have been issued,” Tiwary said.

Asked when Bhattacharya would take up the university he said: “It will take some time. Till then, interim VC Abhijit Chakraborty will continue in the post.”

Bhattacharya, a JU alumnus, told reporters that he would like to join his alma mater by July 19. He has served as dean (student affairs) at the IIT and also chairman and vice-chairman of the panel tasked with screening students for admission to postgraduate courses at the IITs. “The experience would come in handy while running JU,” he said.

The JU search panel comprised Gobardhan Mehta (ex-director, IISc), M. Anandakrishnan (ex-VC, Madras University) and Srikumar Banerjee (ex-chairman, Atomic Energy Commission).

The panel had interviewed 12 candidates, including the interim VC. Sources said the IIT teacher’s name was at the top of the list the panel had sent to the Chancellor.

Suranjan Das gets 2nd term at Calcutta University

KOLKATA : Historian Suranjan Das  has got a second term as the vice-chancellor of Calcutta University by the Governor-Chancellor M.K. Narayanan. His appointment for a four-year term was announced by the Raj Bhawan on May 22, 2012.

Once considered close to the CPI-M his name was included in the panel of probables by the search committee , he got a second term of four years. The recommendation came from a three-member committee comprising sociologist Prof. Andre Beteille, historian Mushirul Hassan and nuclear scientist Anil Kakodkar, set up by the Trinamul Congress government.

“It proves that I was not an improper choice either, when I took charge in 2008. Otherwise I could not find a place in the list of the high power search committee,” said Prof. Das as he received the letter from higher education department confirming his second term.

This is the first appointment of a full-time Vice-Chancellor during the regime of the new government which has been done according to the clause laid down in the West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Act, 2011.  

Prof. Das was the pro Vice-Chancellor of the varsity from 2002 to 2008 before he became the Vice-Chancellor for the first term.

His term originally ended in April following which he was given an extension for six months as the recommendation of the search committee was not submitted before his term ended.

New VC for WBSU

Prof. Koushik Gupta, a professor in Economics at Rabindra Bharati University has been appointed as the new Vice-Chancellor of West Bengal State University for six months. He will take charge from tomorrow. Prof. Ashoke Ranjan Thakur, the former V-C of the university, ended his term on 20 May.

Wasudeo Namdeo Gade is Pune varsity VC

PUNE: On May 15 biologist Wasudeo Namdeo Gade was named new Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the University of Pune (UoP). The announcement by the Raj Bhawan brings to an end an eight-month-long search for top job.

The post had been lying vacant ever since R K Shevgaonkar resigned as the Pune university VC on September 15, 2011, following his appointment as the director of IIT Delhi.

State governor-chancellor K Sankaranarayanan approved Gade's name from among five candidates, who were shortlisted by the search committee headed by former Punjab & Haryana high court chief justice Mukul Mudgal.

The panel had shortlisted the candidates in January for final selection by the Chancellor. However, the process got entangled in a legal tussle in the Bombay high court over a PIL challenging the composition of the VC's search committee.

On May 11, the high court dismissed the PIL, paving the way for Raj Bhavan to announce the final selection. Gade is currently the Director of the UoP's Board for Colleges and University Development (BCUD) -- second most important office in the university.

His new appointment is for a five-year term and will come into effect from the date he will assume charge of the office of the VC or till he attains the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.

Born on November 20, 1952, Gade obtained his BSc in biology from the Nagpur university and later secured his MSc (life sciences), MPhil and PhD in life sciences from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He was a post-doctoral fellow in France and Sweden between 1988 and 1990.

Gade is a recipient of the Lupin Endowment Award instituted by the University Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, and has served as a scientist in the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology of CSIR in Delhi for 20 years between 1983 and 2003. He was Reader and later Professor in the department of biotechnology, University of Pune, from July 2003 till he became BCUD chief.

It may be recalled that a Thane-based social activist, Suresh Patilkhede, had moved the HC challenging the validity of the Maharashtra Universities (Amendment) Ordinance, 2009.

The Ordinance, which amended certain provisions of the Maharashtra Universities Act, 1994, provides for nomination of a search committee to shortlist candidates for the VC'S post. The Chancellor then selects one of the short-listed candidates.

Patilkhede contended that the process went against the regulations of the Universities Grant Commission (UGC). He further contended the selection mechanism was illegal and lacked basic sanctity of law.

A division bench of chief justice Mohit Shah and justice Niteen Jamdar, however, did not find anything wrong with the process. "The respondents have acted in consonance with the provisions of the Maharashtra Universities Act," the judges observed. The HC also turned down a request by the petitioner to stay the selection process till they moved Supreme Court.

The state authorities had said on January 6 that they would not continue with the selection process till the petition was pending.

Kalyani Mathivanan heads Madurai Kamaraj univ

MADURAI : On April 9 2012 Kalyani Mathivanan took over as the 14th Vice-Chancellor of Madurai Kamaraj University here. She is the first woman to head the university top post in the University's 46-year-old history.

Before heading the university she was Head, Department of English, Ethiraj College for Women. Its after a very long time that a professor of English has headed a university in Tamil Nadu.

Talking to Academics India on phone she said she knows Hindi well and would not have much problem in Delhi which most state vice-chancellors avoid because of language problem.

Daughter-in-law of one of the DMK's founding fathers and former Tamil Nadu Finance Minister V. R. Nedunchezhian she holds a PhD and D.Litt, in English from Madras University and has 30 years of teaching experience. She said that ‘Holistic Development' of the university would be her action plan. As of now, Twelfth Plan preparations and the University with Potential for Excellence projects to be done stands as her immediate priorities.

“It is not only my dream but my parents and parents-in-law's dream that has become a reality and now I occupy the position of VC where my father, M. D. K. Kuthalingam, served in the 90s” she said.

The university has been functioning without a VC since April 19, 2011, after R Karpaga Kumaravel demitted office.

L N Bhagat is Ranchi varsity vice-chancellor

RANCHI : On January 1 2012, nearly a month after the retirement of Vice-Chancellor of Ranchi University (RU) and Pro Vice-Chancellor of Sido Kanhu Murmu University (SKMU), Jharkhand Governor-Chancellor, Syed Ahmed appointed Dr Lakshmi Narayan Bhagat and Dr Ram Yatan Prasad as the vice-chancellor of RU and SKMU Pro VC respectively. Their appointment is for three years.

Dr LN Bhagat was serving as the Director of Institute of Science and Management (ISM), Pundag and Dr Ram Yatan Prasad had been serving as the Head of the Chemistry department in Vinoba Bhave University.

The names were proposed by the search committee comprising Justice RK Merathia, chief secretary SK Choudhary, principal secretary to Chancellor AK Pandey and former Vice-Chancellor of RU, KK Nag.

Later Nag said : “We had shortlisted three names for the final selection list for the posts of VC and Pro VC. Prof Ramesh Kumar Pandey, GS Singh from IIT-Roorkee and Dr LN Bhagat were among the final names in the list.”