NIIT Appoints Prof Prakash Gopalan As New President

Academician Prof Prakash Gopalan joins NIIT University (NU) as the new President. With a Ph.D. from Purdue University, US and an M.Tech from IIT Kanpur, Prof Gopalan has been associated with IIT Mumbai for over 26 years. Prof Gopalan will work closely with faculty, staff, and the founders – Rajendra Pawar and Vijay Thadani – to shape NU’s vision and lead its educational and research missions.

Prof Prakash Gopalan has taught over 12 core courses at IIT Mumbai for over 26 years and received the Best Teacher Award in 2000. As the Dean of Student Affairs at IIT Mumbai from September 2005 to September 2011, he focused on enhancing student well-being and discipline, introducing innovative improvements to the student counselling and mentorship programs, and earned the unique distinction of being invited to serve a second term based on exceptional performance feedback from the IIT Mumbai student community.

Working along with Prof Bart Kahr, Prof Gopalan has solved the problem of crystallography that eluded solution for more than two centuries. This work has been cited highly in the chemical science literature. He has 71 publications in internationally referred journals and 29 papers in National and International conferences to his credit. Prof Gopalan has served as a Director at Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology, Patiala. He has also held visiting positions at Purdue and Northwestern University.

Talking about his new role at NU, Prof Gopalan said, “I am deeply honoured to assume the role of President at this prestigious university. I would like to express my profound gratitude to the entire university community for entrusting me with this responsibility. Together, we embark on a journey to foster academic excellence, innovation, and inclusivity. I am excited to collaborate with our exceptional faculty, staff and students to create a brighter future. Thank you for this privilege and I eagerly anticipate the remarkable work we will achieve together.”