NEW DELHI: Prof Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit has become the first woman Vice-Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University with the Ministry of Education (MoE) appointing her to the top post on Monday.
A professor of political science at the Savitribai Phule Pune University since 1992, Pandit has been appointed for a period of five years.
She is currently the Vice-Chancellor of Savitribai Phule University in Maharashtra. Born in Russia, she did her schooling in Chennai. She did her BA in history and social psychology in 1983 from Presidency College, Chennai. She ranked first in the university and is a gold medallist. She also did her MA from the Presidency College in 1985 where she ranked second in the university.
An alumnus of JNU from where she did her MPhil and Ph.D. in International Relations in 1986 and 1990 respectively.
She did a post-doctoral diploma in peace and conflict studies from Uppsala University, Sweden, in 1996. She also did a diploma in social work from summer school, California State University, Longbeach, US.
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A polyglot, who speaks six languages, including Telugu, Tamil, and Sanskrit, the 59-year-old Pandit, started her teaching career in 1988 at Goa University as a political science lecturer.
She has held administrative positions in various academic bodies. She has also been a member of the University Grants Commission (UGC), the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), and visitor's nominee to central universities. She has been a resource at the military intelligence training school, Pune, on Asia-Pacific Region and India’s security perceptions since 1995.
Pandit has published three books and more than 170 research papers and articles in reputed journals on political science and foreign policy.
"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.
M Jagadesh Kumar, who was holding the charge of acting VC at JNU after his five-year term ended last year, was last week appointed as the chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC).