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Tankeshwar Kumar appointed PU V-C
Currently serving as the V-C of the Central University of Haryana, his three-year tenure at PU will begin from the date he assumes charge
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Ending Panjab University’s (PU) over three-month wait for a regular vice-chancellor (V-C), the office of the Vice-President of India, the university’s de facto chancellor, on Monday announced the appointment of Dr Tankeshwar Kumar, 63, to the post for a three-year term.
Kumar is currently serving as the V-C of the Central University of Haryana.
According to the notification, his tenure as PU V-C will begin from the date he assumes charge. His appointment brings an end to the interim arrangement under which Prof Meenakshi Goyal, dean of university instruction (DUI), had been discharging the duties of V-C since July 29, after the tenure of former V-C Prof Renu Vig ended on July 28.
Return to alma mater after decades
Kumar has had a long association with PU’s Department of Physics, where he is still listed as a UGC Professor on leave. An alumnus of the university, he completed MSc in Physics in 1985 and PhD in 1990 before serving the department in various capacities, including as lecturer and reader.
He subsequently became a UGC Professor of Physics – the first in the country to be appointed to this position under the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) Faculty Recharge Programme, according to his official academic profile.
Kumar also headed PU’s Computer Centre from 2005 to 2014. His research focuses on condensed matter physics and nanotechnology.
Extensive administrative experience
Kumar brings considerable administrative experience to the post. Before taking over as the V-C of the Central University of Haryana in 2021, he headed Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar, from 2015 to 2021.
He has also held additional charge as V-C of Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology, Murthal, and Chaudhary Bansi Lal University, Bhiwani.
Several challenges await new V-C
Kumar takes charge at a time when PU is grappling with several administrative and academic challenges. Apart from remaining without a regular V-C for 103 days, several key positions at the university are also functioning under additional-charge arrangements, an issue recently flagged by the Panjab University Teachers’ Association (PUTA).
Speaking to HT, Kumar said his priority would be students and their welfare. “My priority will be the students and their welfare. Like any vice-chancellor, I believe students must remain at the centre of the university’s functioning, and I will continue to put their concerns and interests first,” he said.
He said he would also focus on strengthening the faculty to improve the university’s academic standards and overall performance.
Against the backdrop of PU’s gradual decline in global rankings, Kumar said improving research would be another key priority. Describing research as one of the university’s defining strengths and a cornerstone of its academic legacy, he said PU needed to regain the ground it had lost over the years.
“We have to recover our position in research. I can see that we are going down while others have gone up and moved ahead. We are still in the race, and I will make sure that research gets the priority it deserves,” he said.
Once among India’s strongest research universities, PU was placed in the 226-250 band globally in the 2013-14 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. This was its best-ever showing and the highest ranking achieved by an Indian institution at the time. Its position subsequently declined, with the university slipping to the 501-600 band by 2016 and eventually to the 701-800 band in the 2027 rankings.
