New Delhi

President Ram Nath Kovind in his capacity as the Visitor of the Jawaharlal Nehru University has appointed Prof. Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit, Professor Politics and Public Administration at Savitribai Phule Pune University, as Jawaharlal Nehru University's (JNU) first female Vice-Chancellor (VC).

"She is the first female Vice-Chancellor of JNU. I am handing over the charge to her today and wish her success in her new role," outgoing VC M. Jagadesh Kumar said in a press statement.

An official order of the Ministry of Education said Pandit's tenure will be of five years.

Pandit, who was born in Russia's St. Petersburg, is fluent in English, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Hindi, Sanskrit, Kannada, Malayalam, and Konkani. She topped her final school exams in Chennai. She also completed her B.A. in History and Social Psychology in 1983 from Presidency College in Chennai. She earned a diploma in Social Work from California State University. Pandit is also a gold medalist.

She is the second female Vice-Chancellor of a central university in Delhi selected by the Education Ministry after Professor Najma Akhtar of Jamia Millia Islamia.

On February 4, the Ministry appointed Professor M Jagadesh Kumar as the UGC chairman for the next five years.