Chandigarh: Panjab University (PU) has appointed Professor Tankeshwar Kumar as its new Vice-Chancellor for a three-year term, ending a 103-day wait for a regular head of the university.The appointment was notified by the Secretariat of the Vice-President of India. Vice-President CP Radhakrishnan, who is the Chancellor of Panjab University, appointed Kumar under Section 10 of the Panjab University Act, 1947. His tenure will begin from the date he assumes charge.Kumar is currently serving as Vice-Chancellor of the Central University of Haryana. He will succeed Professor Renu Cheema Vig, whose tenure ended on July 28 after a four-month extension granted by the Chancellor in March. Following her departure, Professor Meenakshi Goyal, Dean of University Instruction, was assigned the additional charge of Vice-Chancellor from July 29.Kumar is not new to Panjab University. He is a former professor in its Department of Physics and has an academic association with the institution. He also served as Vice-Chancellor of Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar, from 2015 to 2021, before taking charge of the Central University of Haryana in 2021.The appointment comes after the university’s search-cum-selection process had reached the interview stage. The committee, constituted by the Chancellor in March and headed by Lt Gen (retd) Madhuri Kanitkar, shortlisted 28 candidates, of whom 25 appeared for interactions scheduled on July 3 and 6.Kumar will take charge at a time when Panjab University is facing several administrative and governance-related challenges. The constitution of its new Senate remains pending even though the election process concluded on October 4. The previous Senate’s tenure ended on October 31, 2024, leaving the university without an elected governing body since then.The new Vice-Chancellor will also have to address long-pending administrative issues and strengthen the university’s institutional functioning.
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