Dr Suhas Pednekar appointed as the new VC of Mumabai University
Dr Suhas Pednekar, principal of Ramnarain Ruia College, has been appointed the new Vice Chancellor of the University of Mumbai. After much speculation, the Governor of Maharashtra and Chancellor of universities Ch Vidyasagar Rao made the announcement on Friday. Pednekar, a Professor of Chemistry, will take over as the VC for a period of five years or till attaining the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier, according to a release from the chancellor’s office.
He succeeds Sanjay Deshmukh, who was removed from the post of Vice Chancellor on October 24 last year following a debacle over an unprecedented delay in results. Devanand Shinde, Vice Chancellor of Shivaji University, Kolhapur was holding the additional charge of the post of Vice Chancellor since then. The Governor had constituted a Search Committee under the chairmanship of Dr. K. Kasturirangan, former chairman of ISRO to recommend to him a panel of names suitable for appointment of Vice Chancellor of the University of Mumbai.
Apart from Pednekar, the other shortlisted candidates were– Pramod Yeole, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Nagpur University, Anil Karnik, chairperson and managing director of Garware Institute of Career Education & Development (GICED), Vilas Sapkal, Head of Chemical Technology department, Amravati University and Pravin Kondekar, a professor from Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing, Jabalpur. While an official statement is awaited, sources said Pednekar is likely to take charge by Friday evening.