Mohali based Plaksha University has announced the appointment of S. Shankar Sastry as the founding chancellor. According to an official statement, Sastry was the Dean of Engineering for over a decade (2007-2018) at the University of California (UC), Berkeley. He currently works as professor, Computer Science, at UC Berkeley.
Sastry has held several prominent positions during his academic career which includes being the chair of the Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS) department at UC Berkeley and Director of the Information Technology Office at Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Arlington, the statement said. He further served as the faculty of MIT and Harvard, the statement added.
“Sastry is a respected academic leader and an institution builder globally. He epitomises the idea of reimagining higher education and building a vibrant higher education ecosystem that supports high-impact research. His in-depth professional experience, knowledge, and leadership will guide Plaksha University to craft a unique learning experience for curious tinkerers,” Neeraj Aggarwal, chairman, Asia Pacific, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and founder, chairperson, Board of Trustees, Plaksha University, said.
The statement further mentioned that Sastry holds a B.Tech degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. He completed his MA in Mathematics and MS, Ph.D in EECS from UC, Berkeley. He also holds doctoral degrees from the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, the University of Waterloo, Canada, and the Politecnico di Torino, Italy.
“The opportunity to be a part of Plaksha University, that has a unique model of being a modern research university with a new pedagogy and outlook, is great opportunity for me,” Sastry said on his appointment.
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