Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit, a former member of the University Grants Commission (UGC), has been appointed as the first woman vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, a senior official from the ministry of education (MoE) said on February 7.
Pandit is currently serving as the vice-chancellor of Savitribai Phule Pune University in Maharashtra. The 59-year-old is an alumnus of JNU. She pursued her MPhil and PhD in International Relations at JNU.
"President Ram Nath Kovind has approved the appointment of Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit as JNU vice-chancellor. Her appointment is for a period of five years," the MoE official said.
Pandit began her teaching career from Goa University in 1988 and moved to Pune University in 1993. She has held administrative positions in various academic bodies. Pandit is a member of the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) and visitor's nominee to central universities. She has guided at least 29 PhDs during her career as an educationist.
She has also authored books like ‘Parliament and Foreign Policy in India’ in 1990 and ‘Restructuring Environmental Governance in Asia-Ethics and Policy’ in 2003.
Born in St Petersberg in Russia on July 15, 1962, Pandit completed her early education in Tamil Nadu. She has been in the research field since 1985. She is a member of the American Studies Research Institute, the Indian Association of American Studies, the All India Political Science Association, the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, and the Indian Secular Society.
M Jagadesh Kumar, who was holding the charge of acting vice-chancellor at JNU after completion of his five-year tenure, was appointed as the chairperson of the UGC last week.