The University Grants Commission has appointed three new members in the statutory organization. Amongst the new members are Seyed E. Hasnain, Vice Chancellor of the University of Hyderabad, Meenakshi Gopinath, Principal of Lady Sri Ram College and Kiran Karnik, former president of NASSCOM. The term of Prof. Achyutananda Samantha of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology at Bhubaneshwar has been renewed.
Dr. Hasnain was amongst the top candidate for the post of Vice Chancellor of the Jawaharlal Nehru University while Dr. Gopinath was one of the candidates short listed for Delhi University’s Vice Chancellor post. The UGC has twelve members including the chairperson and the vice chairperson. Prof. Ved Prakash has taken over chairperson of the Commission after the term of Sukhadeo Thorat ended in February 2011. Prof. Ved Prakash was the vice-chairperson of the UGC. Some other members of the Commission are Vibha Puri Das, Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development; Additional Secretary, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance; Shivaji Rao Shripatrao Kadam, Vice Chancellor of Bharati Vidyapeeth University, Pune; Prof K. Ramamurthy Naidu, former official of Andhra Pradesh; Prof. Xavier Alphonse, Director, Indian Centre for Research and Development of Community Education in Chennai; Dr. Vidya Yeravdekar, Principal Director, Symbiosis, Pune; and S.S. Mantha, acting chairperson All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE).
