MEET THE SPEAKERS

Mr. Bharat Lal, born at then Allahabad and completed his post-graduation in Biochemistry followed by research work at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. He joined Civil Service in July, 1988. In September, 2022, he was appointed Director General, National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), an autonomous apex institution of Government of India, which works on good governance, reforms, capacity building and training of civil servants of India and other developing countries. NCGG also works as a think tank. Prior to joining NCGG, since January, 2022 he was working as Secretary, Lokpal of India, the anti-corruption body of the country. Prior to this, he worked as founder Mission Director of ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’, a flagship programme started in August, 2019 to ensure clean tap water to every household and public institutions of the country, by 2024. For a very long period, he has worked in drinking water and sanitation sector, both at Government of India and in the state of Gujarat. He was involved in ‘sector reforms’ in water and sanitation sector started in 1999 by the Union Government. During 2017–2019, he worked as Additional Secretary to the then President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind. At Rashtrapati Bhavan, he also handled the matters related to Central Universities, IITs, NITs, NIITs, IISER and other central institutions of higher learning. During 2010–2017, he promoted and facilitated investment in Gujarat as well as state’s world-wide diplomatic outreach. Mr. Bharat Lal is known for ‘out of box’ thinking and finding solutions to solve complex problems. He has vast experience of policy making at the highest level, both on national and international issues.

Mr. Chakravorty has a professional career spanning more than three decades. He is presently Joint Secretary (Europe West) at the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India responsible for with 13 bilateral relations in Europe and the EU. He previously served as Consul General of India in New York and India's Ambassador to Peru and Bolivia. Earlier he had been India’s Deputy Chief of Mission in Bangladesh. He has also served in India's diplomatic missions in Spain and Colombia. He holds a master's degree in Advanced Studies in International & European Security from Geneva University, a master’s degree in Sociology and he is also a postgraduate in Forestry Management. Before joining India's diplomatic service in 1996 he worked on environmental and sustainability projects with non-profit organisations in India. In his current assignment, he is working inter-alia on obtaining greater European presence in the Indo-Pacific and on stronger green and sustainable partnerships with Europe.

Alison Barrett MBE leads the India operations of the British Council across their work in English, Education and Arts. Alison has worked for the British Council for over 25 years in a variety of roles in Teaching, Examinations and Cultural Engagement units supporting the building of connections between the UK and our network overseas.  Most of her career has been spent in the Asia-Pacific region, with posts based in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, UAE and Thailand.  Prior to joining the British Council, she worked as a teacher in Nepal, Japan and South Korea. Since 2011, Alison has held numerous senior management positions at country, regional and global level. Her last stint prior to taking up the Director India role was as the Cultural Engagement Business Director for the East Asia region, she led the British Council’s Education, English and Arts portfolio in China, North and Southeast Asia and Australia and New Zealand. Since 2020, she’s been the SRO of The Climate Connection – a global programme and platform for dialogue and action, which has connected young people, policy makers and sector specialists from the UK and over 178 countries together to tackle the climate emergency through culture, education and English. 

Sanjeev Sanyal is currently a Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM). He was the Principal Economic Adviser to the Finance Minister for five years till February 2022 and the Co-Chair of the G20’s Framework Working Group. Prior to joining the government, he spent over two decades in financial markets and was Global Strategist and Managing Director at Deutsche Bank. An alumni of Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi, Mr. Sanyal later attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. He was awarded the Eisenhower Fellowship in 2007 for his work on urban dynamics. In 2010 he was named as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in Davos. Mr. Sanyal is the author of a number of best-selling books including Land of the Seven Rivers, The Ocean of Churn, India in the Age of Ideas, and the Indian Renaissance. He has also published over two hundred articles and columns in leading national and international publications. 

Mr O’Farrell served in the Parliament of New South Wales from 1995 to 2015, including as the State’s 43rd Premier between 2011 and 2014. As Premier, Mr O’Farrell initiated and led annual trade missions to India to promote economic, cultural and social links between New South Wales and the states of India. He has also served as NSW’s Special Envoy for India and has made a significant contribution as the Deputy Chair of the Australia India Council Board. Mr O’Farrell has a Bachelor of Arts from the Australian National University, Canberra. Born in Melbourne, Mr O’Farrell grew up in Darwin. He is married to Rosemary and they have two adult sons.

Dr Philipp Ackermann studied art history and economics in Bonn, Heidelberg and Utrecht, and received his doctorate in art history in 1993. That same year he joined the German Foreign Service. His overseas postings include Rabat (Morocco) and New York (German mission to the UN).From 2006 to 2007, he headed the German Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kunduz, Afghanistan. Between 2007 and 2010, he served as political counsellor in New Delhi (India). He was Deputy Head of Mission in Washington DC from 2014 to 2016. In Berlin, he worked between 2002 and 2006 in the offices of Federal Foreign Ministers Joschka Fischer and Frank-Walter Steinmeier. From 2010 to 2014 he held the position as Head of Task Force Afghanistan-Pakistan in the Federal Foreign Office and as Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Before being assigned to his current job, he was Director General for Africa, Latin America, Near and Middle East at the Federal Foreign Office for five years.

Gloria Berbena joined the U.S. Diplomatic Corps in 1989.  A member of the Senior Foreign Service, Gloria assumed her current posting as Minister Counselor for Public Diplomacy to the U.S. Mission to India in October 2021.  She previously served as Charge’ d’Affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in San Jose, Costa Rica; as Minister Counselor for Public Diplomacy at the U.S. Embassy in Rome; as Senior Advisor to the Executive Secretary in Washington, D.C.; Executive Assistant/Chief of Staff to the Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs; and as Director of the Office of Public Diplomacy in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs.  Other overseas service includes public diplomacy positions in Havana, Athens, Naples, Rome and Bangkok. Gloria is a graduate of the State Department’s Foreign Affairs language programs in Spanish, Greek, Italian and Thai, and is the recipient of several Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards.  In 2012, she received the State Department’s highest honor in the public diplomacy field, the Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Public Diplomacy.  Gloria is a native Californian and a graduate of the University of California.

Dr. Pankaj Mittal, Secretary General of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) is the second women Secretary General of the Association in its 97 years of existence. Prior to joining AIU, she has been serving the higher education sector especially university education for more than 03 decades at the apex regulator of higher education, the University Grants Commission of India. Dr. Pankaj Mittal is a Fulbright Scholar and has been a topper in MSc and PhD in Agricultural Statistics from IARI, New Delhi. She has a wide-ranging experience of more than three decades in Higher Education in Policy Planning and Management of Higher Education. She is also the Chief Commissioner (Guides) of Bharat Scouts and Guides. Dr. Mittal earlier served as the first regular Vice Chancellor of Bhagat Phool Singh Mahila Vishwavidyalaya, Khanpur, the first rural women's university of North India, in 2008, at the young age of 44 years, to undertake an onerous task of developing a tiny Gurukul into an institution of repute. She is the recipient of many awards and has many publications on issues relating to higher education and women empowerment in national and international journals.

With close to 30 years of experience in both academia and industry, Dr. Aggarwal has held various senior level positions, including Assistant Dean, Mason School of Business, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, USA; Chief Learning officer for the JSPL group companies, New Delhi, India; Founding Vice Chancellor, OP Jindal University, India; and President, NIIT University, India. Dr. Aggarwal is an active teacher, speaker and consultant in the areas of operational excellence, supply chain optimization, business analytics, and breakthrough performance. Dr. Aggarwal’s research has been published in various 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. Dr. Aggarwal has a Bachelor of Technology from IIT Kanpur and an MBA and Ph.D. from the Foster School of Business, University of Washington, Seattle, USA in operations management.

Eldho Mathews is a practitioner-researcher, who has rich professional experience in conducting research and providing strategic advice to governments, international organisations, and foreign universities on global engagement strategies through higher education. He currently works at the Unit for International Cooperation of the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA) in New Delhi as Deputy Advisor. His research papers and articles had appeared in International Higher Education, Change, Times Higher Education, Economic and Political Weekly, The Hindu, etc. His professional activities include serving as a Consultant to the World Bank on the internationalisation of Indian higher education. Prior to joining the NIEPA, Eldho worked with the British Council, Sannam S4, the Ministry of Human Resource Development, the Planning Commission of India, and the Kerala State Higher Education Council.

Dr. Chandrasekar has significant experience, working in education planning & management, policy, monitoring, review, and assessment through various national and international projects for the Government at various levels including internationally funded institutions. He has contributed to India’s education sector as an international expert for DfID, The World Bank, and AfDB. Dr. Chandrasekar has wide experience working in the country’s premier higher educational institutions in the capacity of Registrar, Homi Bhabha National Institute, a Deemed to be University and grant-in-aid institute of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Govt. of India, IIT Delhi (a university by Act of Govt. of NCT of Delhi) and UNESCO-Regional Centre for Biotechnology, an Institute of National Importance, DBT, Govt. of India. Dr. Chandrasekar has a Master’s Degree in Sciences (Bharathidasan University), MTech (IIT Kharagpur), and Ph.D. (IIT Delhi). He was awarded NUFFIC Fellowship by the Royal Government of Netherlands to pursue a PG Diploma in Management of the Environment at the Maastricht School of Management. He has more than 10 research publications in the field of Renewable Energy, Institutional structure in Education Planning, and Technology in Education

Dr. Roger Brindley joined Penn State as Vice Provost for Global in April of 2020. In this role, Brindley oversees a staff of nearly 100 professionals who manage education abroad programs, advise and support more than 12,000 international students and scholars, and facilitate the University's 300 international partnerships around the world. As Vice Provost, he promotes Penn State’s comprehensive international strategy and works with senior administrators to guide the University’s international agenda. His responsibilities include securing funding to support Penn State’s international activities and programs as well as representing the University to external constituents worldwide. Prior to his appointment at Penn State, Brindley had been Vice President of USF World at the University of South Florida (USF), where he oversaw global engagement for USF and international student success initiatives for 5,000 students from 147 countries and for over 2,000 students completing academic experiences abroad, and 1,200 USF faculty conducting teaching, scholarship and research overseas. As a professor at USF for 24 years, Brindley received the Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award as well as the USF President's Award for Faculty Excellence.

Dipesh Shah has over 20 years of professional experience in International Business, Project Development, Corporate Affairs, Corporate Law & Policy matters. His most prominent achievement includes setting up and operationalizing India’s 1st Smart City and International Financial Services Centre (IFSC). Before joining IFSCA in Dec 2020, in his last 12 years, tenure at GIFT City, City made substantial progress in getting recognition as India’s model Smart City, starting India’s first Multi Services SEZ and only approved International Financial Services Centre. He brought in the regulatory and business changes in the GIFT IFSC to bring in Banks, International Exchanges (Inaugurated by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India) and Insurance & re-insurance companies for undertaking offshore transactions. As Executive Director, he now heads the Development Division at IFSCA.

Lee has been working in the International Higher Education Sector for 18 years since graduating from Nottingham Trent University with a BA English in 2004. Upon joining the International Office at Queen Mary in 2007 Lee has focused on growing the institutions overseas recruitment activities, initially in Central and SE Asia, Africa and the Indian Sub- continent. In 2013 he took on the role of Head of International Student Recruitment before taking up the position of Director of Global Engagement in 2017, ensuring the delivery of the institutions global objectives within the 2030 Strategy.

Len Jessup is a visionary leader in higher education, known as a consensus builder with a deep interest in innovation and entrepreneurship. He was most recently president of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and previously served as dean of the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona. Prior to that, he served as vice president of university development at Washington State University and president of the WSU Foundation, as well as dean of WSU’s Carson College of Business. Jessup has published and presented widely on information systems, entrepreneurship, innovation, technology transfer, and commercialization. His many publications include co-authoring several editions of Information Systems Today: Managing in the Digital World and articles such as “Uncertainty, Risk Preference, and New-Venture Strategies” in the Journal of Strategy and Management. In addition to his academic achievements, he has received numerous awards, including the 2018 CEO Award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District VII. 

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor Strategic Engagement is responsible for the University’s international strategy and operations; marketing and communications; student recruitment; government, public relations and stakeholder engagement; alumni relations and philanthropy, as well as being the strategic lead for sustainability. Through his international portfolio, the DVC Strategic Engagement has oversight of the Auckland Confucius Institute and North Asia CAPE (Centre for Asia Pacific Excellence) and is also Chair of the Advisory Boards for the New Zealand Centre at Peking University and the New Zealand Centre at the Indian Institute of Technology (Delhi). Prior to commencing this role in 2021, Erik was at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, where he held the position of Pro Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Global Engagement) from 2016. He was previously Pro Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (International and Outreach) at the Australian National University in Canberra and Director of International Affairs at University College Dublin. 

Amrita is an experienced leader, problem solver, facilitator and dot connector in the field of international research and higher education and has successfully led the delivery of significant strategic partnerships across diverse geographies and cultures. Her current role focuses on external engagement, primarily for GBU and the GBU-Edinburgh context, as well as key opportunities related to the College of Science & Engineering, University of Edinburgh. As Executive Director to the Gujarat Biotechnology University (GBU) project, Amrita worked toward her vision of creating a world-class thematic postgraduate university with a unique culture. She is responsible for delivering a deep international partnership with the University of Edinburgh that contributes a number of academic services and mentorship across curricula, faculty development, teaching support, development of research, mobility and overall advisory, placing GBU on world class track. Amrita was also responsible for operationalising the new university located in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

Karunn Kandoi is a champion of the edtech sector. As a customer-obsessed, impact-driven leader, Karunn is always focused on bringing more positive change in the world of education through the power of technology. At an early age, Karunn discovered that his life’s meaning and purpose was rooted in the field of education. He has dedicated his entire professional life around innovating and improving this field to help, support and benefit future generations. Currently, Karunn heads the Business Operations for APAC and Customer Experience for ApplyBoard Globally. As a former international student himself, he leans on his experience to help ApplyBoard best simplify the study abroad journey through the technology platform. Before beginning his time with ApplyBoard, Karunn worked at Extramarks Education India Private Limited as the Director - of Whole Time & President of Global Business. Prior to this experience, Karunn founded Shree Eduserve, the largest brand for learning English in India. Karunn holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering and an MBA from the University of Washington. 

Akshay Chaturvedi is an Indian entrepreneur. He was listed on the Forbes India’s 30Under30 list, and then subsequently on the Forbes Asia’s 30Under30 list, both in early 2020. He founded Leverage Edu, and as its CEO, now runs what is India’s largest Career Guidance and University Admissions platform - with 10 Mn users, 200,000+ 1:1 counselling sessions & 15,000+ admission applicants - every month. Akshay has raised over ₹250 Crore from top global VCs & PEs, family offices, successful business operators and retail syndicates for his business, LeverageEdu. LeverageEdu was last valued at $120Mn after its Series B round of financing in March 2022. He became a CNBC Young Turk, named eponymously after India’s top business/ entrepreneurship show, in 2019. Later that year, he also won the TiE Entrepreneurial Excellence Award. In 2020, he won the BusinessWorld TechTors award, touted among the top tech entrepreneurs to watch out for. As Prime Minister’s Champions of Change, selected in 2019, he closely worked with the ministries on higher education policy framework. In Nov 2022, Akshay appeared on the cover page of the reputed Entrepreneur Magazine in its edition of “The Most Daring CEOs”. In July 2020, he was awarded as Entrepreneur of the Year (Consumer Business) by the Entrepreneur Magazine. 

Suneet has been at the forefront of the international higher education industry for two decades while he established Fateh Education as one of India’s leading Education consultancies, headquartered in New Delhi. Previously a reputed banker, Suneet established Fateh Education with a vision to be the market leader in study abroad consulting space for the UK and Ireland and go beyond excellence to provide the finest quality personalized services to its students. At Fateh Education he manages the strategic functions including University relations, Government body partnerships, public relations, and new business initiatives. His business philosophy is driven by his belief that students and parents who come for counselling should receive personal advise and all the necessary information to enable them in making an informed decision. Under the leadership of Suneet, Fateh Education has grown to establish over 120 university partnerships with 150 plus employees across 8 offices in India. Suneet is an alumnus of IIM-Calcutta and Shri Ram College of Commerce. He is an avid traveller who has visited the UK, Ireland and 13 other countries. Despite being a global traveller, he still prefers being in India entwined with his true roots. 

Anuranjita Kumar is a human resource veteran with over twenty-nine years of experience working across the globe managing various assignments, including senior human resource roles in Asia, North America, and Europe through her stints at Citi Royal Bank of Scotland, and P&G. She was heading HR for International hubs in RBS. She has held a variety of Senior roles in Citi as, Managing Director and CHRO for Citi, South Asia, Head of HR for Europe Middle East & Africa Banking based in London, and Talent lead in NYC. She is equipped with global and cross-cultural experience in the corporate world and has deep-seated knowledge about the working culture and dynamics in various countries.  Anu is now the Founder and CEO for We- ACE. It is a global platform that focused on balancing workplaces through engagement, enablement, and employment of women in the industry. Anu has been recognized and featured on The Economic Times ‘Women Ahead List 2018’. She was further recognized in 2019 for being an astute role model for India Inc and by the leading Asian D&I organization - House of Rose Professionals as a Visionary Diversity and Inclusion Leader. She has also been recognized as one of the Top 100 HR professionals by World HRD Congress in 2015 .

Dr. Leni Chaudhuri is the Executive Director, University of Chicago Center in India. She is based in Delhi and provides strategic, technical, and administrative oversight to the pan-India research, multi-sector policy, and program implementation engagements. She works closely with government, think tanks and policy influencers, private sector, academic institutions, civil society organisations, research institutions, and donors, to promote collaborations that harnesses evidence-based insights from rigorous economics research in decision-making and program design. She has extensive research and policy engagement experience on a range of developmental issues including energy and environment, health, education, and governance. Her research includes gender and health, behaviour change, health, and human rights. She has led several successful initiatives in scaling up health programs, establishing centres of excellence, and co-creating public-private partners. For the last two decades, Dr. Leni has engaged in several initiatives on enhancing people’s access to health and social justice with a special focus on vulnerable groups. Dr. Leni holds a Ph.D. in women’s studies from SNDT Women’s University and M.A. and M.Phil in Political Science and International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.

Ganesh Kohli is a teacher, counselor, entrepreneur, and life-long learner who has founded, nurtured and led multiple education-focused organizations over the past 25 years. In his professional journey, Ganesh has visited 450+ universities across the world, personally guiding 4000+ students in making decisions about their higher education. With the vision of "counseling in every school", Ganesh founded the IC3 Movement, which has reached 90+ countries and has 800+ volunteers across the globe. Ganesh also serves as the Chair of the Board of Trustees for the IC3 Institute, a nonprofit organization, with the audacious goal to train 100,000 school counselors, impacting 175,000 high schools in 15 years. Ganesh is the pioneer of the Counseling Laboratory™ pedagogy, a pathbreaking approach to high school career and college counseling. A gifted orator, Ganesh is a TEDx speaker and has presented at numerous global conferences over the years. 

Professor N.V. Varghese is a former Vice Chancellor of the National University of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi. He holds a doctoral degree in Economics with a specialisation in educational planning. He was the founding  Director of the Centre for Policy Research in Higher Education (CPRHE/NIEPA), New Delhi (2013-2019);  Head of Governance and Management in Education at the International  Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP/UNESCO), Paris (2006- 2013);   Head of its  Training and Education Programmes at IIEP, Paris (2001- 2006) and Head of higher education and specialized training, at IIEP, Paris (1999-2001). He was responsible for designing and introducing the IIEP  Master’s programme in educational planning and management. While at IIEP, he was the Secretary-General and responsible for the Secretariat of the International  Working Group on Education (IWGE) which is a network of funding agencies in education. 

Vineet Gupta is an alumnus of IIT Delhi and graduated in 1991. In an entrepreneurial career spanning over thirty years, Vineet is credited with building some outstand institutions and organizations including Ashoka University, Plaksha University and Jamboree Education. Vineet, along with a group of friends, started thinking of setting up Ashoka university in 2007. Ashoka University opened in 2014 and has emerged as a torchbearer for high quality liberal arts and sciences education in India. Ashoka has been built on the model of collective philanthropy and is one of India’s largest collective philanthropic fundraise. Ashoka’s 93 acre campus located on the outskirts of Delhi has become a model for private universities in India. As a key Founder of the institution, Vineet built the institution from ground up and was also the first Pro Vice-Chancellor of Ashoka University. In 2015, Vineet got involved with building Plaksha University as a philanthropic initiative to re-imagine engineering education and was instrumental in establishing the University as a Founder and the Founder Chairperson of the Board of Trustees.

Dr. Somak Raychaudhury is Vice-Chancellor, Ashoka University. He was previously the Director of the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune. Professor Raychaudhury graduated from Presidency College, University of Calcutta, and went on to read Physics at Trinity College, University of Oxford, supported by an Inlaks Shivdasani scholarship. He did his Ph.D. in Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge, supported by the Isaac Newton Studentship, where he was awarded a J T Knight prize. He then moved to the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, (CfA) at Cambridge, USA, as a Smithsonian Fellow. He stayed on to work in the High Energy Astrophysics division of the CfA, working for a NASA project, as part of the team that built the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, now in orbit. At this time, he was always a Fellow of Lowell House, Harvard University. His work involves a wide range of topics in Cosmology and Astrophysics and has made seminal discoveries using observations at radio, optical and X-ray frequencies, from the ground and from Space. 

Dr. Shashank Shah is an international researcher, public policy specialist, and bestselling author with three highly acclaimed management books and 250+ national and international publications to his credit. His research focuses on economic and social value creation through visionary leadership, inclusive strategies, and stakeholder-centric decision-making. He has the unique distinction of being a Fellow at the world’s preeminent universities including Harvard and Oxford. He was awarded the prestigious Chevening Gurukul Fellowship for Leadership and Excellence at the University of Oxford in 2021-22 by the Govt. of the United Kingdom, and the J.N. Tata Trust Scholarship at the Harvard Business School, USA, in 2014-15. He has been Visiting Scholar at Copenhagen Business School, a Fellow and Project Director at Harvard University South Asia Institute, a Postdoctoral Fellow at Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Consulting Editor at Business India, Board Research Chair at the Institute of Risk Management, and Faculty Chair for Management Development Programmes at Larsen & Toubro, among other assignments. He has trained senior corporate leaders and advised start-ups in India and USA. A TEDx and Talks at Google speaker, he has addressed 250+ academic, industry, and civil society platforms across countries. In 2021, he was ranked among the ‘Top 200 Most Influential Global Thought Leaders’. He currently serves as Director (Higher Education) at NITI Aayog. 

Professor Ananya Mukherjee is Vice-Chancellor of Shiv Nadar University, Delhi-NCR, recently recognized as an Institution of Eminence. Attracted by the opportunity to lead such an institution, Professor Mukherjee returned to India after spending more than two decades in the two of the largest universities in Canada, the University of British Columbia and York University. Professor Mukherjee obtained her PhD from the University of Southern California, USA and her BA and MA in Economics from Jadavpur University, India. Before joining Shiv Nadar University, Professor Mukherjee was Provost and Vice-President Academic, University of British Columbia (UBC) Okanagan. She also led UBC’s strategy for inclusive higher education and has been involved in several national initiatives for higher education in Canada. Between 2015-18, Professor Mukherjee was Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies at York University, Toronto. In this capacity, she led the largest liberal arts faculty in Canada with 23,000 students from 123 countries.

Dr. Pratap is the Founding Vice Chancellor of Plaksha University. He was till recently the Deputy Director of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Founding Chairperson of the Centre for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE) and a Professor in the Centre, as well as of Mechanical Engineering at IISc, Bangalore. A pioneer in the field of Micro and Nano-Electro-Mechanical Systems, Dr. Pratap has been associated with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore for almost 25 years (1996- 2021) and is credited for establishing the globally recognized Centre for Nano Science and Engineering at IISc. Dr. Pratap was also an invited professor at EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland in 2004-05. Prior to joining IISc in 1996, he taught at the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, for 2.5 years. Dr. Pratap’s research areas include microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), sensor technology, computational mechanics, and mechanobiology. He headed India's first research lab in the field of microelectromechanical systems, the CranesSci MEMS Lab, at the IISc, Bangalore.