Meet Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit, The First Woman Vice Chancellor Of JNU

The Ministry of Education (MoE) has appointed Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit as the first woman Vice Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University. She is currently the Vice Chancellor of Savitribai Phule University in Maharashtra.

"President Ram Nath Kovind, who is Visitor to the University, has approved the appointment of Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit as JNU Vice Chancellor. Her appointment is for a period of five years," a senior MoE official said. She succeeds Prof. M Jagadesh Kumar. He is now the new Chairman of UGC.

Here's everything you should know about her.

• She is 59-years-old.
• She is an alumna of Jawaharlal Nehru University.
• She holds a diploma in Social Work from California State University, Longbeach, USA.
• She also pursued her MA in Political Science from Presidency College in Madras.
• She pursued her MPhil as well as PhD in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University.
• During her PhD, she wrote a thesis on "Parliament and Foreign Policy in India - The Nehru Years".
• She will serve as the Vice Chancellor for a period of five years.
• Her teaching career commenced from Goa University in 1988.
• Post that, she moved to Pune University in 1993.
• She has held administrative position in various academic bodies.
• She has also been a member of the University Grants Commission (UGC), the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR).
• She has also been a Visitor's nominee to central universities.
• She has guided 29 PhDs in her career so far.

A number of universities across the country have got female chancellors and vice-chancellors in the last five years. For instance, Najma Heptulla was appointed as the chancellor of the Central University- Jamia Millia Islamia in 2017.  With this, this Manipur Governor and former Minority Affairs Minister scripted history by becoming the first ever woman to hold this post in the University.

The University of Allahabad appointed professor Sangita Srivastava as the new regular vice-chancellor, making her the first woman to hold the position at the 133-year-old university in December 2020. Read more about it here.