NIIT University Appoints Dr Prabhu Aggarwal as its Next President

Established with a vision to bring about innovation in higher education and learning in emerging areas of the knowledge society, the not-for-profit NIIT University (NU) announced the appointment of Dr Prabhu Aggarwal, as the next President for NU. He succeeds Prof VS Rao, whose tenure ended on June 30, 2020. 

Dr Aggarwal comes with extensive global expertise in the fields of engineering, process management, education and leadership development spanning over three decades, a substantial part of which was at the Mason School of Business, College of William & Mary, Virginia, USA where he led the Center for Professional Development Programs for working professionals. 

Aggarwal graduated from IIT Kanpur with a major in Mechanical Engineering and then went on to do his MBA and Ph.D from the University of Washington, Seattle, USA in Operations Management. Since his return to India in the year 2012, he has been the founding Vice-Chancellor of OP Jindal University, Raigarh and thereafter Academic Advisor to the National Rail and Transportation Institute, among other engagements. 

Dr K Kasturirangan, Chairperson NIIT University said, “Dr Prabhu Aggarwal brings three decades of academic experience to the University. His unique blend of experience will help advance our mission of building innovation in higher education”. 

“We welcome Dr Prabhu Aggarwal to NU. We are certain that his diverse and comprehensive experience both in the field of engineering and management development, will further strengthen the Four Core Principles of NU”, said Rajendra S Pawar, Chairman NIIT and Founder of NIIT University. 

Speaking on the appointment, Dr Prabhu Aggarwal, President, NIIT University said, “It is both an honour and a privilege to lead NIIT University, which is focused towards building a model of higher education that fosters critical thinking, innovation and a research mindset. I look forward to the opportunity to guide the future of NIIT University; particularly given the enormous challenges posed by current uncertainties and therefore new prospects that higher education is faced within the present times.” 

Dr Aggarwal’s research has been published in leading academic and practitioner journals such as Management Science, Operations Research, IIE Transactions, Journal of International Technology and Information Management, and International Journal of Production Economics. Conceptualized as an institution of excellence, NU provides exceptional education based on the Four Core Principles that make learning Industry-linked, Technology-based, Research-driven and Seamless. NU is well poised for meeting the emerging needs of the knowledge economy through its focus on building strong industry linkages and a research-oriented approach. 

With more than 600 industry partners, NU is dedicated towards forging strong industry linkages as one of its core principles. This ensures that the University is connected with the best organizations and institutions. 

The Centre for Industry Collaboration (CIC) assists students in their endeavours to enrich their education, careers and lives and make lifelong contributions to society. 

About NU: Established in 2009, NIIT University (NU) is a not-for-profit University covered under section 2(f) of UGC Act and notified by the Government of Rajasthan. A premier institution of higher learning and research, NU seeks to create original thinkers who will lead the knowledge society of the future. The University inherits four decades of rich expertise and global know-how of its principal sponsor, the NIIT Group. 

Nurtured by some of the foremost thought leaders and corporate-practitioners of the country, the multidisciplinary University focuses on emerging areas of technology and management. NU is a part of a 100-acre campus at Neemrana, Rajasthan, 90 minutes from Delhi Airport. Nestled in the Aravalli hills, the fully residential green campus offers an idyllic and intellectually vibrant environment for pursuing higher education and research. Set up with the vision to be the role model of learning, research, innovation and sustainability for the knowledge society, NU is dedicated to building great careers and ensuring excellent job opportunities for all its students. It has been developed as an institute of excellence to provide exceptional education based on its Four Core Principles that make learning Industry-linked, Technology-based, Research-driven and Seamless. 

NU offers the entire spectrum of academic programs. At the undergraduate level, it offers B.Tech (Computer Science & Engineering, Electronics & Communication, Biotechnology), 4-year Integrated MBA (Marketing & Marketing Analytics, Entrepreneurship, Finance Banking & FinTech, Business Analytics, Communication & Media studies, Digital & Social Media Marketing), 4-year Integrated M.Sc (Computer Science), 5-year Integrated M.Tech and M.Tech (Educational Technology and Geographic Information Systems). In addition, NU also offers MBA, Ph.D programs and several Industry Sponsored Programs