Prof. Govindan Rangarajan was appointed as the new director of IISc, Bengaluru. Image source: IISc Bangalore
Professor Govindan Rangarajan is appointed as the new director of the 111-year-old Indian Institute of Science (IISc) located in Bengaluru on Friday. According to an official statement from the premier institution, the new appointment is in the wake of incumbent Director Prof. Anurag Kumar superannuating from his service on July 31.
“Prof. Govindan Rangarajan has been formally appointed by the Governing Council of the Institute as the next Director of IISc with effect from August 1, 2020, after obtaining approval from the Visitor, the Honourable President of India,” the statement read.
Prof. Rangarajan said he feel honoured and privileged to take over as the next IISc Director. “The Institute has a glorious 111-year-old legacy of impactful contributions to science and engineering. I will strive to uphold this tradition and take the Institute to even greater heights in the coming years,” he said.
Prof. Rangarajan obtained an Integrated M.Sc. (Hons.) degree from the Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani, and a PhD from the University of Maryland, College Park. He then worked at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, USA, before returning to India in 1992. Prior to his current appointment, Prof. Rangarajan was the Chair, Division of Interdisciplinary Research at IISc comprising 10 departments and centres.
Further, he also headed the fundraising and alumni outreach efforts of the Institute. Prof. Rangarajan has also served as the Chair, Department of Mathematics and the Chair, International Relations Cell.
His predecessor Prof. Anurag Kumar, was appointed as the Director of the Institute on August 1, 2014. He is credited to have introduced initiatives to modernise IISc’s administration and infrastructure, improve faculty recruitment, increase support from non-government sources, enable the careers of women researchers in the Institute, and enhance IISc’s visibility abroad, during his six-year-tenure.
The IISc is one among the few institutions in the country that was picked as an Institution of Eminence (IoE) by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) in 2018.