Professor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit will succeed Professor M Jagdesh Kumar as the new Vice Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University. Professor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit from Savitribai Phule Pune University would become the first woman vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, since its inception.

“In exercise of the powers conferred upon him by the statutes of the JNU, the President of India [Ram Nath Kovind] in his capacity as the Visitor of JNU has been pleased to appoint…Pandit… as the Vice Chancellor of the Jawaharlal Nehru University,”

the Union education ministry said in a letter to the JNU registrar.

An alumnus of JNU, Professor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit did her MPhil and PhD from its School of International Studies between 1986 and 1990. She has been appointed for five years from the date she assumes charge as the 13th vice-chancellor of JNU. Pandit did her master’s in political science from Chennai’s Presidency College. She has also taught at Goa University.

Meanwhile, Professor M Jagdesh Kumar has been appointed the chairman of UGC(University Grants Commission). As an outgoing Vice-Chancellor, Professor M Jagdesh Kumar informed –

“It gives me pleasure to inform that Professor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit from the Department of Politics and Public Administration, Savitribai Phule Pune University, has been appointed as the next vice-chancellor of JNU. She is the first woman vice-chancellor of JNU.”

Professor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit was born in St Petersberg, Russia (USSR), on July 15, 1962 and has been in the field of research since 1985. She has been in the teaching field since 1988 and has been a member of several prestigious organisations which includes the American Studies Research Institute, Hyderabad, the Indian Association of American Studies, the All India Political Science Association, the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, the Indian Secular Society, etc.

‘Parliament and Foreign Policy in India’ (1990) and ‘Restructuring Environmental governance in Asia-Ethics and Policy’ (2003), are some of the books which has been authored by her.

As per an announcement made on Friday, Professor M Jagdesh Kumar, the VC of JNU, would now lead all the work being done by UGC. Professor M Jagdesh Kumar had already completed his five years tenure as the vice chancellor of JNU in January 2022 but was allowed to continue working or a few more days till a replacement could be found for his position. He is also the chairman of the governing body of National Council of Science Museums.

 

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