Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar has officially retired as Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC), concluding a significant tenure that began in February 2022. During his time in office, he introduced several student-centric reforms that reshaped the landscape of higher education in India.
The UGC, in an official statement, expressed gratitude and best wishes for his future endeavours. The statement reads: “The University Grants Commission bids a heartfelt farewell to Chairman Prof. Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar. His tenure was marked by a series of unprecedented student-centric reforms and far-reaching institutional changes across higher education in the country. He also shifted many aspects of the functioning of the regulatory body.”
“His dedication to academia and his ability to connect with people from all walks of life will be fondly remembered. The entire UGC family wishes him the very best in the next chapter of his life,” it further added.
Born in Mamidala village in Telangana’s Nalgonda district, Mr Kumar holds an MS and PhD in Electrical Engineering from IIT Madras. He later conducted post-doctoral research at the University of Waterloo, Canada, under the mentorship of renowned bipolar devices expert Prof. David J. Roulston.
Before leading the UGC, Mr Kumar served as the 12th Vice-Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) from 2016 to 2022. At IIT Delhi, where he is currently on lien, he held various key academic and research positions, including the NXP Chair Professorship, Chairman of the Electronics Group, and Coordinator of VLSI Design programs.
Mr Kumar is known for his works in areas of Nano-electronic Devices, Nanoscale Device modelling and simulation, Innovative Device Design and Power semiconductor devices. He has published three books, four book chapters and more than 250 publications in these areas.
