Jagadesh Kumar, whose term as JNU VC saw controversies, is new UGC chairman

JNU vice chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar, whose tenure was marred by controversies, has been appointed as chairman of the University Grants Commission.

According to the ministry of education, Kumar has been appointed as the chairman of the higher education regulator for a period of five years.

"The central government has appointed M Jagadesh Kumar as UGC Chairman for a period of five years or till he attains the age of 65 years, whichever is the earliest," a senior MoE official said.

The post of the UGC chairman fell vacant on December 7 after Prof D P Singh, who had taken charge in 2018, resigned upon turning 65. The post of the vice-chairman of the higher education regulator is also vacant.

Kumar is currently holding the charge as acting VC of the varsity after his five-year term expired last year. The ministry is yet to appoint his successor at JNU.

From the sedition row of 2016 and lockdown of his office multiple times to then HRD minister getting stuck for over six hours at the venue of JNU's convocation in 2019, Kumar's tenure as the vice chancellor of the university has been marred by controversies.

Kumar, who was made the vice chancellor in January 2016, had his first brush with controversy as the VC just a week after his appointment when students locked horns with the administration over holding of an event against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

Widely regarded for his knowledge in electronic engineering and associated areas, Kumar obtained MS(EE) and PhD (EE) degrees from the dept of electrical engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras.

He has previously worked as assistant professor at IIT Kharagpur and associate professor at IIT Delhi.