M Jagadesh Kumar, vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), was appointed chairperson of the higher education authority University Grants Commission on Friday (UGC). Kumar has been appointed for five years from the date of assumption of duty, or until he turns 65, or until further orders, according to a notification from the Union education ministry.
Kumar was one of three people shortlisted for the position, along with Nitin R Karmalkar, the vice-chancellor of Pune University, and Avinash Chandra Pandey, the director of the UGC’s Inter-University Accelerator Centre. The appointment comes as the higher education sector undergoes reforms as a result of the implementation of the National Education Policy 2020.
Kumar is a Madras-based alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). Before being named vice-chancellor in 2016, he was a professor at IIT Delhi. The education ministry gave him an extension “until further orders” just days before his JNU term ended in January 2021.
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