Pratap Bhanu Mehta appointed new Ashoka University VC

Ashoka University on Thursday named Pratap Bhanu Mehta as its Vice Chancellor (VC), in a move that the varsity made "after conducting an extensive global search".

Mehta, a known public intellectual and head of Centre for Policy Research, a Delhi-based think-tank, will take charge from July 1 at the Sonepat, Haryana-based university.

Mehta will be the second VC of the liberal arts university since its inception after Rudrangshu Mukherjee. The latter, who became the VC in 2014, will assume the responsibility of a Chancellor now.

"...Mehta's intellectual concerns are profoundly interdisciplinary and he is deeply committed to the idea of a wide-ranging liberal education. He is an outstanding teacher and scholar," the university said in a statement.

"After conducting an extensive global search, the selection committee were of the unanimous opinion that... Mehta is best suited to carry forward and enrich the vision that is already embodied in Ashoka University," it added.

Mukherjee is due to replace sociologist Andre Beteille as Chancellor, who is near completion of his three-year term.

--IANS

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