After a gap of over seven months since the departure of Prof Sudhir Kumar Jain on January 7, 2025, Banaras Hindu University (BHU) has welcomed a new Vice-Chancellor. Prof Ajit Kumar Chaturvedi, a distinguished academician from IIT Kanpur, has been officially appointed as the 29th Vice Chancellor of BHU.
The appointment was confirmed through a communication from the Union Ministry of Education addressed to the BHU Registrar. As per the official letter, President Droupadi Murmu, in her capacity as the Visitor of BHU, has approved Prof. Ajit’s appointment for a three-year term starting from the date he assumes office, or until he turns 70, whichever comes earlier.
Prof. Ajit Chaturvedi holds BTech, MTech, and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kanpur, completed in 1986, 1988, and 1995, respectively. His academic journey began at the Department of Electronics Engineering, IIT-BHU (then IT-BHU), where he taught from 1994 to 1996. He subsequently joined IIT Roorkee and later moved to IIT Kanpur in 1999.
Over the years, Prof. Ajit has held several key leadership roles. At IIT Kanpur, he served as Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering, Dean of Research & Development, and Deputy Director. In 2012, he was elevated to the prestigious HAG Professor rank and was honored with the Sanjay and Rachna Pradhan Chair Professorship in 2015.
In 2017, he became the Director of IIT Roorkee, a role he served in until October 2022. His leadership portfolio also includes tenure as Director of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS), Shimla (2017–2018) and Director of IIT Mandi (2020–2022). Following these assignments, he returned to his alma mater, IIT Kanpur.
An expert in communication theory and wireless communications, Prof Chaturvedi has made significant contributions to India’s telecom sector. He led the BSNL-IITK Telecom Centre of Excellence, which played a critical role in policy and technological advancements in telecommunications.
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His accolades include the INSA Teachers Award, IIT Kanpur’s Distinguished Teacher Award, and the Tan Chin Tuan Fellowship from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He is also a founding member of the Telecom Standards Development Society of India (TSDSI) and served on the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) spectrum allocation committee in 2008.
With his extensive academic background, administrative expertise, and forward-thinking vision, Prof Ajit Kumar Chaturvedi is poised to usher in a new era for Banaras Hindu University, aligning it with global standards in education and research.
