Panjab University has appointed Prof Tankeshwar Kumar as its regular vice-chancellor for a three-year term, ending a 103-day period of interim leadership at the Chandigarh-based institution. Kumar, currently vice-chancellor of Central University of Haryana, is expected to join within two to three days.
The appointment was made by Panjab University Chancellor and Vice-President of India CP Radhakrishnan. The notification, issued by the Secretariat of the Vice-President on Monday, said the appointment was made under Section 10 of the Panjab University Act, 1947. It was signed by Amit Khare, secretary to the Vice-President and Chancellor of the university.
Kumar’s tenure will begin from the date he assumes charge. Speaking after the appointment was notified, he identified student welfare, improved academic output, job-oriented education, faculty strengthening and research promotion as his key priorities.
The university had been without a regular vice-chancellor since July 28, when Prof Renu Cheema Vig completed her tenure after receiving a four-month extension in March. Prof Meenakshi Goyal, dean of university instruction, was given additional charge from July 29 and managed the institution during the interim period.
The appointment follows a selection process that had reached the interview stage before Vig’s tenure ended. A three-member search-cum-selection committee headed by Lt Gen (retd) Madhuri Kanitkar, vice-chancellor of Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, shortlisted 28 candidates. Twenty-five candidates appeared for interactions scheduled on July 3 and 6, but no appointment was announced before the outgoing vice-chancellor’s term ended.
Kumar has previously been associated with Panjab University, where he served as a University Grants Commission professor of physics and worked with the Abdul Kalam Computer Centre. He later served as vice-chancellor of Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology in Hisar from 2015 to 2021, before becoming vice-chancellor of Central University of Haryana in 2021.
One of the immediate institutional issues before the incoming vice-chancellor is the constitution of the university’s new Senate. Elections for Senate fellows were completed on October 4, but the elected fellows have not yet been notified. The previous Senate’s tenure ended on October 31, 2024, leaving the university without an elected governing body since then.
Asked about the pending notification and constitution of the new House, Kumar said he was aware of the matter and that the notification would be issued very soon, within the next few days. His joining and the Senate notification are the next formal steps in restoring regular leadership and elected institutional governance at Panjab University.
