Govindan Rangarajan appointed new Director of Indian Institute of Science

Bengaluru: The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) on Friday announced the appointment of Professor Govindan Rangarajan as its new Director. Rangarajan has been formally appointed by the Governing Council of the Institute as the next Director with effect from August 1, 2020, after obtaining approval from the Visitor, the Honourable President of India, IISc said in a release.

His appointment comes as Professor Anurag Kumar will superannuate from his service at the IISc, and thereby complete his term as the Director of the Institute on July 31. 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, he was the Chair, Division of Interdisciplinary Research at IISc comprising 10 departments and centres, and also headed the fundraising and alumni outreach efforts of the institute. Rangarajan has also served as the Chair of Department of Mathematics and the Chair of International Relations Cell, the release added. Rangarajan said it was an honour and privilege for him to be appointed as the next Director of IISc.

“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.

Pointing out that the outgoing Director Anurag Kumar was appointed to the post on August 1, 2014, IISc said, during his tenure he introduced initiatives to modernise IISc”s administration and infrastructure, improve faculty recruitment, and enhance IISc”s visibility abroad among others.

“It has been an honour for me to serve as the Director of IISc, Indias top ranked university of science and engineering,” Kumar said, as he congratulated the new Director and wished him success.