Category: Education

The case alleging of discrimination of students of Asian origin by a group that claims Harvard’s admissions office discriminates against Asian applicants in order to boost other racial groups, seen as a referendum on affirmative action hiring practices, opened in a Boston federal district court on October 15th.

The case has been brought by a group from the Washington DC area called Students For Fair Admissions, which ultimately wants courts to rule that race-based decisions in education are a civil rights violation.

Harvard is one of the top-rated and most selective universities in the US, admitting about 1,600 freshman students out of 42,000 applicants each year. Harvard disputes the claim and says race is only one small factor in their secretive student selections process.

The lawsuit claims that the elite university unfairly weighs race when considering an applicant, forcing Asian-Americans to meet a higher bar in order to be accepted. They claim Harvard uses a quota system or a system of “racial balancing” – practices that are illegal under federal law – to limit the number of Asian students on campus in an effort to maintain space for other racial groups. The plaintiffs say that if race was not considered, and if admissions were only based on grades alone, twice as many Asian pupils would be admitted because they perform well academically.

Before the trial, groups of protesters took the streets in the city, either opposing or supporting an admissions policy that includes race as a factor. The case is expected to shed light on admissions practices at universities. Courts have previously allowed universities to examine race as a factor in order to promote diversity on campus, a practice known as affirmative action, or “reverse discrimination”.

Some unexpected revelations could also come out of the trial, such as how the university considers the children of alumni or donors, or the applications of other pupils who are not admitted through the typical process.

Harvard says they use a “holistic” strategy to evaluate students, and that race is only one minor consideration. The institution points out that its population of Asians students has been growing, and now stands at 23% of the student body. Harvard University Dean Rakesh Khurana told WBUR that it takes more than just good grades to be chosen.

“We’re looking for people who are genuinely curious. Not just those who do well on exams but actually want to lean and have an integrative capacity,” he said.

Other Ivy league schools and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) are supporting Harvard in the case. In an amicus brief – a court filing supporting Harvard – the ACLU argued that “a whole-person, race-conscious admissions process furthers a university’s academic freedom to assemble a diverse student body”.

The Students For Fair Admissions group was formed by conservative activist Edward Blum – who opposes affirmative action, ie the proactive effort to include minorities that have been historically marginalised due to discrimination.

The Justice Department has also launched a probe into whether Yale University discriminates against Asians – something which it denies. The trial is expected to last two to three weeks. But regardless of the outcome, the loser is expected to appeal the verdict to the US Supreme Court.

No Indian institution figures in the top 250 of the Times Higher Education’s (THE) world university rankings 2019, though the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, has retained its position as the highest-ranked centre in the country, while the Indian Institute of Technology-Indore has risen to the highest position behind it.

The rankings, released on Wednesday last week, show Oxford continues to hold the first place, Cambridge second, and Stanford third. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology rose one place to number four.

There was some good news for India: number of Indian institutions in the rankings increased from 42 last year to 49, making it the fifth best-represented nation. India is the most-represented country in the table when those in the top 200 are excluded.

The India group in the ranking was again led by the Indian Institute of Science, which retained its position in the 251-300 band. But IIT-Indore became India’s second highest-ranked university – and a global top 400 institution – with its strong score for research volume and research impact.

It overtook the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay, which slipped from the 351-400 band to the 401-500 band.

Pradeep Mathur, director of IIT-Indore, told THE: “Our efforts in making research the focus of the institute is now reflected in the form of citations and other impact metrics of research. We continue to make research the focus of all our programmes which is why you see even our undergraduate students are active participants of research projects and collaborations within India and internationally too.”

Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (headquartered in Tamil Nadu) saw a rise, from the 801-1000 band to the 601-800 band this year, with a particular improvement in its citation impact (research influence) score.

However, while some institutions gained this year, the majority of India’s universities remained static or declined, struggling amid increased global competition, according to the global list.

Education levels have generally risen since 1980 among the largest U.S. immigrant-origin populations. More than three-in-four immigrants ages 25 and older from India (77.5%) had a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2016 – the highest share of any top origin country – up from 66.1% in 1980.

Overall, the estimated 44 million immigrants in the United States are better educated than ever, due in part to rising levels of schooling in many of the countries they came from and an influx of high-skilled workers to the U.S. in recent years, especially from Asia, a Prew Study found recently.

In 2016, 17.2% of immigrants ages 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree and another 12.8% had attained a postgraduate degree, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. Both shares are up since 1980, when 7.0% held a bachelor’s degree and another 8.7% held a postgraduate degree.

Compared with the U.S.-born population, immigrants are about as likely to hold bachelor’s and postgraduate degrees, though this varies by country of origin. In 2016, 30.0% of immigrants ages 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 31.6% of the U.S. born.

The educational attainment of U.S. immigrants has improved in recent decades for a variety of reasons. Each year, thousands of immigrants temporarily work in the U.S. under the federal government’s H-1B visa and Optional Practical Training programs, the two largest sources of new temporary high-skilled immigrant workers. Each requires some level of college education. More broadly, education levels have increased in many parts of the world as nations have invested in their educational systems. One result is that global literacy rates among people ages 15 and older have increased from 56% in 1980 to 85% in 2014.

It remains to be seen how changes to H-1B visa application reviews enacted in 2018 – and any other possible changes to the nation’s immigration system – will shape the U.S. immigrant population in the future.

Changes in the origins of U.S. immigrants in recent years have also contributed to the increased share with a college education. In recent years, Asia has surpassed Latin America as the largest source of newly arrived U.S. immigrants, in large part because immigration from India and China has increased steadily while immigration from Mexico has declined sharply. This follows one of the largest mass migrations in modern U.S history, during which more immigrants came to the U.S. from Mexico than any other country in the world. Overall, 11.6 million Mexican immigrants and 11.7 million South and East Asia immigrants lived in the U.S. in 2016.

More than half of immigrants from South and East Asian countries (52.1%) had a bachelor’s degree or more in 2016, which is in part explained by Asian countries being the largest source of foreign college graduates who stay to work in the United States.

Asian immigrants also make up a majority of H-1B visa holders and foreign students. Latin American immigrants, by contrast, tend to have lower levels of education. The vast majority of Mexican immigrants (81.2%) and Central American immigrants (74.6%) had a high school degree or less, the lowest educational attainment level of any origin region.

Immigrants from Korea, which is second to India, have had the biggest increase in educational attainment among those ages 25 and older. The share of Korean immigrants with a bachelor’s degree jumped from 34.4% in 1980 to 53.6% in 2016, a 19-percentage-point increase.

By contrast, the share of Mexican immigrants with a bachelor’s degree or higher has increased by only a few percentage points since 1980, reaching 6.2% in 2016. However, the share of Mexican immigrants ages 25 and older with a high school degree has more than doubled, from 11.4% in 1980 to 25.2% in 2016.

Today, the U.S. has more immigrants than any other nation in the world. About 13.5% of the U.S. population was foreign born in 2016. This share has been on the rise since 1970, when it was at a historic low of 4.8%, but it remains below the record of 14.8%, reached more than a century ago in 1890.

The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) has appointed Dr. Devesh Kapur as Starr Foundation Professor of South Asian Studies and Director of Asia Programs.

“It is my pleasure to welcome Dr. Devesh Kapur to the school’s faculty,” said Dean Vali Nasr. “We will benefit immensely from his extensive scholarship in the study of India and South Asian politics, and his pioneering research on how local-global linkages affect political and economic change in development countries. We look forward to Dr. Kapur’s leadership in deepening the school’s expertise on Asia and expanding the cross-disciplinary nature of Asia Studies at Johns Hopkins SAIS,” said Nasr.

Kapur is the author of Diaspora, Democracy and Development: The Impact of International Migration from India on India (Princeton University Press), which earned him a 2012 Distinguished Book Award of the International Studies Association and The Other One Percent: Indians in America (with Sanjoy Chakravorty and Nirvikar Singh) for which he received a Choice Outstanding Title of 2017.

Before joining Johns Hopkins SAIS, Devesh was a professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for the Advanced Study of India, holding the Madan Lal Sobti Chair for the Study of Contemporary India at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to his tenure at Penn, he was Associate Professor of Government at the University of Texas at Austin, and the Frederick Danziger Associate Professor of Government at Harvard. Kapur received the Joseph R. Levenson Teaching Prize, awarded to the best junior faculty at Harvard College and Outstanding Teaching in Political Science by the American Political Science Association, in 2005. Devesh holds a doctorate from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton, a master’s degree from the University of Minnesota, and a bachelor’s from the Indian Institute of Technology at Varanasi.

Former Indian American U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy was recently honored by the Association of Recovery in Higher Education, among 15 others.

Murthy served as the 19th U.S. Surgeon General during President Barack Obama’s administration from 2014 to 2017.

Murthy received the Spectrum Award for outstanding contributions to the advancement of recovery, at a July 9 event, themed “The Art of Recovery,” held at the University of Houston.

According to his website, in 2017, Murthy focused his attention on chronic stress and isolation as prevalent problems that have profound implications for health, productivity and happiness.

He then partnered with the Veterans Health Administration and led a meeting that brought together leading thinkers, researchers and practitioners to identify scientifically proven ways we can cultivate emotional well-being and fitness to help us thrive among the most challenging circumstances.

In addition to his role as America’s ‘top doctor’ as the vice admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, Murthy commanded a uniformed service of 6,600 public health officers, serving the most underserved and vulnerable populations in over 800 locations domestically and abroad.

Murthy received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and his medical degree and M.B.A. from Yale University.

Murthy completed his internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and later joined Harvard Medical School as faculty in internal medicine.

Three Indian American kids from across the country were among the 18 winners announced by Population Connection on May 8th in its international “World of 7 Billion” video contest. The victors topped the more than 5,000 students in grades 6 through 12 from 50 countries and 44 U.S. states and territories who participated in the competition.

Ayush Iyer of Lancaster, Pa., came in first in the Feeding 10 Billion middle school category for the video titled, “Feeding 10 Billion People on Earth.”

In the Advancing Women and Girls high school category, Ramya Iyer of Omaha, Neb., was the first-place winner. Iyer’s video was titled, “Child Marriage: There Is a Solution.”

Arjun Agarwal of Lawrenceville, N.J., for the video “Eating Up by Thinking Up,” was the top winner in the high school Feeding 10 Billion category.

Ayush is an eighth grader at Manheim Township Middle School. He heard about the contest from his Excel (gifted) teacher and created his video as an independent project outside of his school work, his bio said.

He chose Feeding 10 Billion as the subject of his video because he cares deeply about global hunger, and says if he “could solve one world problem, that would be it.” He’s written multiple essays, research papers, and presentations on the subject before he entered the World of 7 Billion contest, Population Connection added.

The videos explored population growth as it relates to one of three challenges: Feeding 10 Billion, Preventing Pollution, and Advancing Girls and Women. The contest was organized and promoted during the 2017-18 school year by Population Education, a program of Population Connection. A panel of 61 judges including college and high school educators, filmmakers and topic experts selected the winners.

Population Connection is a national grassroots population organization that educates young people and advocates for progressive action to stabilize world population at a level that can be sustained by earth’s resources.

First- and second-place winners were named in three categories each for middle school and high school levels. The three high school first-place winners each received a $1,000 cash prize, while the three second-place winners each received $500. Six honorable mentions each received $250. Middle school students who claimed first and second place received $500 and $250, respectively.

Ayush was aware of population and its impact, but says that his research for the video made him think more deeply about the future implications for people, the planet, and the demands on our food systems, it said.

He is also a passionate advocate for vegetarianism. He’s raised awareness about the ecological benefits of switching to a plant-based diet by making speeches and producing films for his fellow students. Ayush likes using PowToon and other animation styles to create his videos.

Ramya Iyer is in the ninth grade at Westside High School. The World of 7 Billion contest was forwarded to her in an email, and without any prior filmmaking experience she submitted a winning video, her bio said.

She said it was often difficult to read the stories and experiences of child brides, but it also motivated her to translate their hardship into her video and inspire people to take action. Ramya herself was particularly struck by the fact that over 1 billion women will have been child brides by 2050, according to Population Connection.

As for the population connection, Ramya shared that she never thought about the link between human numbers and women and girls, but it became clearly apparent after doing research for her video, it said.

She recognized that the “symbolism should be strong” in her video because she wanted to represent child brides everywhere but knew she couldn’t “show every child that has gone through this.”

The four faceless girls in her film represent the many millions of girls married off before age 18 worldwide and to accurately portray them, Ramya studied the cultures and proper dress of child brides from different countries, it added.

Arjun Agarwal, a ninth grader at Lawrence High School, found out about the contest through involvement in his school’s STEM club. He felt inspired to tackle the challenge of Feeding 10 Billion with his film because he saw hunger firsthand while traveling in India with his parents, his bio said.

In addition to educating viewers about their chosen topic and how it relates to human population growth, students in the contest had to include at least one idea for a sustainable solution. “These aren’t just great young filmmakers,” said John Seager, president of Population Connection, in a statement. “All of the winners are inspirational voices for a sustainable and compassionate future.”

Five Indian American high school students have been named 2018 Dell Scholars by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. Sita Bhandari of Richland Collegiate High School of Math Science in Dallas, Texas; Amrit Chauhan and Manjot Singh, both from River Valley High School in Yuba City, California; Harleen Kaur of Sunnyside High School in Fresno, California and Pooja Patel from Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, Florida, were among 500 high school students who have demonstrated the drive to succeed and persist toward achieving a bachelor’s degree.

Dell Scholars has supported more than 4,300 students from across the country over the last 14 years and announced its largest scholars class of 500 this year.

“Our success – 75 percent of our scholars obtain a degree within six years – is primarily attributable to our students’ hard work, perseverance and ability to overcome the substantial obstacles that often derail low-income, first-generation college goers,” Todd Penner wrote on the foundation’s blog.

“As we welcome this new class, we are humbled by working with such amazing students and proud of all they have achieved so far. It’s our mission to provide them with the support they need to complete college and earn their degrees,” he added.

The Dell Scholars program offers $20,000, a laptop and textbook credits along with services and solutions for students and their families, addressing individual and systemic issues that can create major barriers to student success.

The program is looking for students who showed grit “by overcoming personal challenges in your life related to your family, school or community,” potential by participating in college readiness programs, and “seeking out academic rigor” and ambition by “dreaming of obtaining a college degree,” and it will work with students to ensure they have the tools needed to complete college with a degree in hand.

Dr. Nana Banerjee has been appointed as president and chief executive officer of McGraw-Hill Education. Dr. Banerjee, 47, will be based in New York and succeeds Lloyd G. “Buzz” Waterhouse, who became interim president and CEO in October of 2017 having previously served as president and CEO from June 2012 through April 2014.

“After a thoughtful and thorough search, we chose Nana for his outstanding leadership and stellar management skills. Nana’s deep knowledge of analytics and artificial intelligence, his lifelong passion for education and his demonstrated ability to deliver value for global employees, customers and investors will be instrumental in growing our businesses. He will continue our journey as a learning science company focused on helping students achieve better outcomes,” Larry Berg, senior partner with Apollo Global Management and chairman of the Board of McGraw-Hill Education, said in a press release.

Prior to his appointment Dr. Banerjee was the group president of Verisk Analytics where he had a proven track record of driving global growth and exceptional performance in both public and private companies.

“Nana is a great choice to lead McGraw-Hill Education. His strengths dovetail with exactly what we need as we look ahead – a seasoned leader who understands the critical role that data and technology can play in education. As a learning science company, we are at the forefront of innovation in K-20 and professional education, and Nana’s extensive experience will be invaluable in deepening our relationships with educators,” Waterhouse said in a press release

Dr. Banerjee has also served as the head of Citibank’s credit card business in the United Kingdom as well as the vice president of marketing at GE Capital. He began his career forecasting housing starts at The McGraw-Hill Companies’ FW Dodge unit.

Dr. Banerjee has a Ph.D. in applied mathematics from the State University of New York; a master of science degree in mathematics from the Indian Institutes of Technology, Delhi; and a bachelor of science degree with honors in mathematics from St. Stephens College, Delhi.

“I am honored and excited to be a part of McGraw-Hill Education. This iconic brand is founded on the reputation of its people, its content, and its tools, as the finest in the industry. I am looking forward to teaming up with our colleagues and fulfilling the promise of our vision to unlock the full potential of each learner with enhanced access and better quality learning solutions, enabled with scaled technologies and advanced analytics,” Dr. Banerjee said.

Carnegie Mellon University  has appointed Srinivasan Seshan as head of the Computer Science Department, effective July 1.

Andrew Moore, Dean of the School of Computer Science, selected Mr. Seshan to succeed Frank Pfenning, who will return to teaching and researching full-time.

“…we are all excited about Srini Seshan’s new role as head of CSD,” Mr. Moore said in a release. “He is an outstanding researcher and teacher, and I’m confident that his expanded role in leadership will help the department reach even greater heights.”

Seshan joined the Computer Science Department in 2000. His research is centered on improving the “design, performance and security of computer networks, including wireless and mobile networks,” per the release.

In essence, that means he and his research group have developed ways to more efficiently transfer video content over the internet and have created new architectures to ensure the internet is more trustworthy.

The Computer Science Department is the school’s oldest and largest department.

The School of Computer Science was recognized this month by the U.S. News and World Report’s latest rankings on the “Best Graduate Computer Science Programs,” as the top-rated program in artificial intelligence.

 Seshan has been honored for his work a number of times. Among his honors include the three-year Finmeccanica Career Development Professorship in computer science, which supports outstanding young SCS faculty members; two IBM Faculty Partnership awards; and the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development, or CAREER, Award.

A vital pre-requisite in all companies and educational institutions is proof of English language proficiency. Therefore, all aspirants should take a language test to learn the right kind of skills, says Vikas Singh, Managing Director, Pearson India.

Vikas Singh, Managing Director of Pearson India, a leading education company, discusses the importance of English language proficiency for all those planning to work or study abroad.

1. The decision to go abroad for study or work is generally a tough call. What is a key factor that one should consider?

A vital pre-requisite in all companies and educational institutions is proof of English language proficiency. English language skills are considered to be an essential requirement in addition to all other requirements to work or study abroad, as it strongly relates to people’s ability to integrate into the community and workplace. Therefore, by taking an English language test, the aspirant is able to learn the right kind of skills which demonstrate their true proficiency and help them succeed.

2. How should an aspirant approach the test?

The test should assess the aspirant’s English language proficiency based on their ability in four key areas—speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Classically, aspirants face challenges in terms of not having a truly conducive environment to take the test. Additionally, human interventions / biases can affect the score outcome, apart from the anxiety of taking the test.

3. How does PTE Academic address these challenges?

PTE Academic (Pearson Test of English Academic) is a computer-based language test that offers students and employment seekers a fast (results typically in five business days), fair (accurate computer marking with no potential for examiner bias), and flexible (test sessions 360 days of the year) way of proving their English language proficiency. Since there is no examiner or human intervention in the test-taking process, the accuracy is higher. Our state-of-the-art test centres are soundproof and enable test takers to perform to their best potential. Additionally, advanced security systems like digital biometrics incorporating palm-scanning, digital signatures, randomized test formats, and CCTV cameras ensure that aspirants can appear for the test in a controlled and secure environment

Critically acclaimed author Sir Salman Rushdie has been conferred with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters during his visit to the Indiana University Bloomington campus March 29. Rushdie was in Bloomington as part of the university’s semester-long “India Remixed: Global Arts and Humanities Festival.”

In his address, Rushdie compared eastern and western fiction, discussing how eastern fiction is less likely to have some kind of moral revelation at the end than western fiction and how kids have too much independence in western stories.

“They don’t guarantee the triumph of virtue,” he said of eastern tales as he recalled listening to many stories as a child and urged the audience of 1,000 in Indiana University’s auditorium, to write unrealistic stories as they have a more powerful meaning. “Write what you know, but only if what you know is really interesting. I’m in favor of continuing to make things up. We are all dreaming creatures, so dream on paper,” Rushdie said.

“For more than four decades, Sir Salman Rushdie has been a teller of truths. Through the conferral of an honorary degree upon Sir Salman Rushdie today, we acknowledge and recognize that the extraordinary works for which he is renowned constitute major contributions to world literature, advancements of our culture, and that they shed light on the truth of what it means to be human,” McRobbie said about Rushdie.

Rushdie has written 13 novels, including “Midnight’s Children” and “The Satanic Verses,” for which the Islamic Republic of Iran leader issued a fatwā against him, calling for Rushdie to be punished by death as the Islamic spiritual leader called the book “blasphemous and insulting toward Muslims.”

The fatwā ended up creating violence around the world and Rushdie had to live under police protection for a few years though he continued to write and publish his books during that time. Rushdie was born in India and his work primarily focuses on writing fictional stories that explain the difficulties of reality.

Meera Komarraju, dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, will become the university’s interim provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs pending approval of the university’s Board of Trustees.

SIU Chancellor Carlo Montemagno said Komarraju’s appointment, which will be effective April 13 if approved, fills an important gap in the university’s leadership. The provost’s responsibilities have been divided among other members of the provost’s office since the retirement of previous interim provost Susan Ford in June 2017.

The university’s provost oversees the academic colleges, library affairs, the graduate school, off-campus programs, the honors program, information technology and the centers for international education and teaching excellence.

“Dr. Komarraju is well-qualified to move the revitalization of our academic programs forward,” Montemagno said. “She is highly respected across campus as an administrator, teacher and researcher who has displayed a strong commitment to SIU throughout her career. She possesses the experience and skills needed to succeed as interim provost.”

As dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Komarraju currently oversees the largest academic unit on campus. She came to SIU as a lecturer in 1986 and has served as director of the Department of Psychology’s undergraduate program, chair of the department, and associate dean for student and curricular affairs in the College of Liberal Arts before her 2015 appointment as dean.

She is a professor of psychology and holds a doctoral degree in applied social psychology from the University of Cincinnati and doctoral and master’s degree in industrial-organizational psychology from Osmania University in India. She also holds a master’s degree in sociology from Osmania University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology, philosophy and English literature from Nizam College in India.

Komarraju is widely published in her field and is a fellow of the American Psychological Association. She is a past recipient of the university’s Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award.

“If approved by the Board of Trustees, I would be deeply honored to serve SIU Carbondale and advance it in partnership with our students, staff, faculty, campus administrators, alumni and community members” Komarraju said.

“We have an extremely strong base with outstanding academic programs as well as talented faculty members and resourceful staff members who are devoted to our students,” she added. “We will continue to work towards raising our academic profile, recognizing that strong academic programs, high quality research and excellent teaching are at the heart of the university.”

The American Council on Education has named Renu Khator the recipient of the 2018 Council of Fellows/Fidelity Investments Mentor Award on March 11th. Khator, Indian American University of Houston System chancellor and University of Houston president, was honored with the award during the 100th annual ACE meeting.

The Council of Fellows/Fidelity Investments Mentor Award is bestowed annually to acknowledge the substantial role of mentors in the success of ACE Fellows Program participants, according to a council news release.

Since its inception in 1965, the ACE Fellows Program​ has strengthened institutions and leadership in American postsecondary education by identifying and preparing nearly 1,900 faculty and administrators for senior positions in higher education leadership, it said.

More than 80 percent of Fellows have gone on to serve as chief executive officers of colleges or universities, provosts, vice presidents and deans, the council noted. Between 2005 and 2018, Khator has mentored five Fellows. Her commitment to mentoring diverse professionals helps expand the pipeline to the presidency to include high-achievers from minority communities.

And her mentees all agree: She is authentic, attentive, thoughtful, transparent and personable, according to the news release. “Her stellar career aside, president Khator has proven an invaluable asset to the ACE Fellows Program,” said Sherri Lind Hughes, assistant vice president of ACE Leadership, in a statement. “As a mentor, she finds teaching moments in all aspects of her presidency and doesn’t shy away from hardships or obstacles as opportunities for her mentees to learn something new.”

The UH System’s first woman chancellor and the first Indian American to head a comprehensive research university in the United States, Khator assumed her current post in January 2008, according to her bio.

She now oversees a four-university system that serves nearly 71,000 students, has an annual budget that exceeds $1.7 billion, and has a $6 billion-plus impact on the Greater Houston area’s economy each year, the news release said.

During her tenure, UH has experienced record-breaking research funding, enrollment, and private support. As part of an ongoing $1.5-billion campus construction program, UH launched its 74-acre Energy Research Park, opened its 40,000-seat TDECU Stadium and increased student residence hall capacity to 8,000.

In 2015, UH was awarded a Phi Beta Kappa chapter, one of fewer than 300 schools to earn that designation from the prestigious national honor society. In 2011, UH earned Tier One status, the Carnegie Foundation’s top category of research universities, the release said.

Khator is a past chair of ACE’s Board of Directors and serves on numerous other boards, forums and councils. Prior to UH, Khator held various positions at the University of South Florida. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Kanpur University and her master of arts and doctorate from Purdue University.

Since 2008, Fidelity Investments has been a generous supporter of the ACE Fellows Program, enabling the council of Fellows to provide support for the discretionary fund of the Mentor Award winner’s institution as well as the Fellows Fund for the Future, which provides stipends to defray costs of sponsoring a Fellow for qualified institutions.

The Harvard South Asian Association celebrated 30 years of its annual cultural show, Ghungroo, with four performances in February. More than 300 students came together to direct, produce and perform a variety of dances, musical selections, dramatic pieces and poetry inspired by the traditions of South Asia. Billed as Harvard’s largest student- run production, Ghungroo brings both experienced and less experienced performers together into a large dance, whether or not they are part of the South Asian community.

Every spring, the South Asian Association produces a show called Ghungroo, which is an enormous celebration of South Asian culture through manifold acts of dance, music, and drama entirely directed, choreographed, and performed by undergraduate students. Ghungroo began in 1988, and is the largest student-run production at Harvard! Any undergrad at Harvard can participate, and students from so many different backgrounds and cultures come together to sing, dance, act, or help produce the show – no prior experience necessary!

This year’s production, directed by Menaka Narayanan, Aditi Sundaram, and Ivraj Seerha, focused on the creation of Ghungroo, tracing its trajectory since its inception. Performances highlighted what it means to be a part of the show and how it brings the community together.

Students from a variety of backgrounds and majors presented music and dance performances from a classical fusion orchestra to raas and a Bollywood dance featuring the latest South Asian hit songs. The half-hour grand finale was the combined effort of 117 members of the Harvard Class of 2018.

Harvard South Asian Association co-presidents and Ghungroo co-producers Simi Shah and Ayman Mohammad, the highlight of the performances was to have Harvard alumni — including some founding members — who returned to campus to see how the show has evolved.

“It was truly remarkable sharing this experience with alumni, be it the founding members of Ghungroo or the directors and producers who mentored us our first year as college students,” Shah said. “Having over 60 alumni come back over the course of the weekend speaks to the significance of Ghungroo and what it means to the broader community of South Asians who take this experience beyond Harvard.”

Indian actor Twinkle Khanna met Malala Yousafzai at Oxford University while promoting her husband Akshay Kumar’s upcoming movie ‘Pad Man’. The two ladies posed with other students and faculty members of the prestigious university while holding sanitary pads. (Above pic)

 During media interactions, the Pakistani women’s activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner praised the movie theme which revolves around menstrual awareness and women hygiene. Malala said that Pad Man has an inspiring message. She said, “I’m really excited to see the film Pad Man… because the message behind the film is truly inspiring.”

 Twinkle also spoke to the Oxford students in her speech. She complained that Indian school girls in villages have to sit with a rag cloth or a rolled-up sock or even wadded up newspaper between their legs. “Pads are still seen as a luxury item. It is odd that pads are taxed at 12 percent in India but brooms are tax free,” she resented.

 Pad Man is Twinkle’s maiden production. It stars Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor and Radhika Apte. Pad Man will now release on February 9, 2018. Pad Man is a fictionalized account of Padmashri Arunachalam Muruganatham, the man who revolutionized the manufacture of the low cost sanitary napkin in India. Lakshmi is a newly married, humble welder from a rural village in the heart of India. Lakshmi’s incredible journey starts when he is shocked to discover that his wife uses an unhygienic cloth during her periods. Unable to afford a branded pad, he decides to make a sanitary pad himself. After several attempts, his irate wife refuses to be a part of his experiments. Lakshmi’s love and concern for his wife, his determination to make the pad, leads him into situations that cause so much shock and embarrassment that it compels his wife to leave him and his village to banish him.

 Lakshmi doesn’t give up. His simplicity of thought, his resilience, his focus and his complete disregard for convention finally leads him to his destiny. A machine that can make a pad! The revolution that follows…from spreading menstrual hygiene, to empowering women, to starting mini cooperatives, to a vision of making India a 100% Pad using country, to accolades, to international glory and to a final resolution of his personal life, makes the rest of the feature “PAD MAN”. His journey to make India a 100% pad using country goes on…even today.

Pad Man aims to raise the curtain on all myths, taboos and beliefs around periods and menstrual hygiene, which have held women and girls back from empowerment for centuries. The curtain raiser gives us some of the exciting insights into what Pad Man has in store for us. It opens with an awestruck Sonam Kapoor trying to come to terms with the fact that how can a man be so obsessed with ‘chumming,’ as menstruation is commonly called. We are then taken to a festive scene in Akshay Kumar’s village where a celebration takes place in honor of a young girl getting her first period.

The video also gives us a glimpse of Akshay Kumar’s character Lakshmikanth at the United Nations who draws a comparison between pads used to protect the legs of cricketers and sanitary pads used by women, strongly making a point that there is a need for menstrual hygiene. Sharing the video on social media Akshay Kumar said, “#PadManCurtainRaiser from all the myths, taboos and beliefs. Here’s to unveiling the future with innovations together!”

Dubbed ‘Superhero hai yeh Pagla’, Pad Man is the world’s first feature film on menstrual hygiene inspired by the story of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential entrants Arunachalam Muruganantham, a rural welder from India with a unique, eccentrically mad edge who turned incredible inventor by providing women with access to high-quality and affordable sanitary pads 20 years ago.

Produced by Mrs Funnybones Movies, SPE FIlms India, Kriarj Entertainment, Cape of Good Films and Hope Productions, Pad Man is written and directed by ad-man turned film-man R Balki (Paa). It is billed as the most progressive family entertainer yet, starring international megastar Akshay Kumar (Toilet: Ek Prem Katha) who assumes the titular role of Arunachalam Muruganantham to once again showcase his commitment to social entertainers. He is joined by critically acclaimed actresses Sonam Kapoor (Neerja) and Radhika Apte (Kabali). One for the mad ones, the ones who are crazy enough to change the world, Pad Man is the one-of-a-kind feature film, tackling the taboo and stigmas attached to menstrual hygiene through the art of entertainment.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/seqok8s9jimby54/AACo_R5n_QfinOvN-Xcjiu8Ha?dl=0

Prof. Bala and Prabha Swaminathan have created a Tamil professorship at Stony Brook University in honor of Bala’s parents, called the Anandavalli and Dr. G. Swaminathan Endowed Research Professorship. “Tamil language is more than something to speak. It harbors a culture’s history and traditions, and perpetuates identity and pride. Ultimately, when its wisdom is shared, Tamil language creates better cross-cultural understanding and cooperation,” said Bala.

The University also has a very successful India Studies Center, which recently celebrated its 20th year. The couple has established the Tamil professorship in the College of Arts and Sciences to leverage interdisciplinary, scholarly research collaborations with linguistics, anthropologists, musicians and sociologists.

“I have a very high regard for Stony Brook’s research capabilities. I expect the professor in Tamil will be an active contributor on campus, publishing many papers, offering Tamil language classes and creating the new knowledge that will perpetuate and celebrate the language that still has so much to teach us,” Bala added.

Bala said that one of Tamil’s oldest texts, the Kural, inspired him as his father “lived by” the text while he was growing up in the South Indian town of Madurai. The Kural is written by the 4th century BCE poet and philosopher Valluvar and is one of the highly acclaimed texts of secular ethics as well as the most widely translated works in the world.

“Whatever we earn is to provide for others who do not have the same opportunities,” Bala recalls his father saying to him as he used to follow the Kural to help him be generous before becoming a well-known doctor.

Bala founded the New York Tamil Academy for school children and he and Prabha have two sons, Isai Maran and Kavin Mathi. Bala and Prabha’s decided to create the professorship in Tamil at Stony Brook University to help sustain the language and culture that have served them so well.

“Offering an endowed faculty appointment, such as the Anandavalli and Dr. G. Swaminathan Endowed Research Professorship in Tamil, helps us attract the most talented teachers and researchers,” said Stony Brook University President Samuel L. Stanley Jr.

“We are grateful to Bala and Prabha for their incredible leadership in keeping Tamil and the ideas of the Kural alive for future generations,” he added.

Stony Brook University in New York Dec. 11 announced that Bala and Prabha Swaminathan have established a new endowed professorship which will offer Tamil language studies at the university’s College of Arts and Sciences.

The Tamil language is nearly as old as Hebrew, and stands next to Chinese as the most enduring classical language still spoken today, according to a university news release. Despite the language standing the test of time, only a handful of colleges and universities offer Tamil as a language study, it said.

In a quest to change that, the Swaminathans created the Anandavalli and Dr. G. Swaminathan Endowed Research Professorship in Tamil at Stony Brook University in honor of Bala’s mother and father.

“Tamil language is more than something to speak,” said Bala Swaminathan in a statement. “It harbors a culture’s history and traditions, and perpetuates identity and pride. Ultimately, when its wisdom is shared, Tamil language creates better cross-cultural understanding and cooperation.”

While the university is also home to a thriving India Studies Center, the Swaminathans deliberately established the Tamil professorship in the college of arts and sciences to leverage interdisciplinary, scholarly research collaborations with linguistics, anthropologists, musicians and sociologists, according to the university.

“I have a very high regard for Stony Brook’s research capabilities,” Swaminathan added. “I expect the professor in Tamil will be an active contributor on campus, publishing many papers, offering Tamil language classes and creating the new knowledge that will perpetuate and celebrate the language that still has so much to teach us.”

It was the wisdom of one of Tamil’s oldest texts, the Kural, that first captivated Swaminathan as he grew up in the southern Indian town of Madurai, Stony Brook said. His father “lived by” the Kural. Written by the 4th century BCE poet and philosopher Valluvar, the Kural is one of the most venerated texts of secular ethics and most widely translated works in the world. Coincidentally, Valluvar was also born in Madurai, preceding Swaminathan by more than 2,000 years, it said.

Before Swaminathan’s father became a prominent doctor, he had little to give to others. Still, his father followed the Kural precept to be charitable, once explaining to his son, “Whatever we earn is to provide for others who do not have the same opportunities,” the university noted.

While creating a successful career in the U.S. and founding the New York Tamil Academy for school children, Swaminathan says he’s most proud of the life of purpose and meaning he shares with Prabha and their two sons, Isai Maran and Kavin Mathi, according to the news release.

The Indian American couple hopes the professorship will help sustain the language and culture that have served them so well. “Offering endowed faculty appointments, such as the Anandavalli and Dr. G. Swaminathan Endowed Research Professorship in Tamil, helps us attract the most talented teachers and researchers,” said Stony Brook University president Samuel L. Stanley Jr. in a statement. “We are grateful to Bala and Prabha for their incredible leadership in keeping Tamil and the ideas of the Kural alive for future generations.”

The Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, which witnessed a good placement season, also saw a 20 per cent hike in international offers this year compared to last year. In the first three days of placement, 47 offers were made to students for international postings. Including the pre-placement offers, 60 students have offers from offshore companies, which is 20 per cent higher than last year. For the same period last year, 50 students had offers for international positions.

The placement team claimed that the number of offers for US-based positions has increased. Last year, owing to uncertainty over visa laws in the US, fewer offers were rolled out. This year, however, US-based companies returned to the campus and made offers, but with caveats. In case the visa laws do not turn in favour of the students, parallel offers have been made for domestic positions. This year, the number of Japanese firms has also increased, said sources in the placement team. Japanese manufacturing company Murata, IT giant Yahoo Japan, and IT company NEC Japan were some of the recruiters that made the highest number of offers and offered high packages. At least 15 Japanese firms are expected to participate in campus placements at IIT-B. Last year, too, a Japanese firm – Works app – had made the highest offer of 60 lakh Japanese Yen (JPY) per annum, a repeat of the year before.

University of California San Diego celebrated the dedication of a new building for the divisions of Biological and Physical Sciences on Sept. 12with a special announcement. The cutting-edge science building will bear the name Tata Hall for the Sciences, or Tata Hall, in recognition of a $70 million gift from the Tata Trusts, which was committed last year to create the binational Tata Institute for Genetics and Society. Institute for Genetics and Society Advances with BThe Tata Institute for Genetics and Society was established as a collaborative partnership between the university and research operations in India and will occupy the fifth floor of Tata Hall.

The institute’s mission is to advance global science and technology through socially conscious means to develop solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges, such as public health and agriculture.

“It is my privilege to dedicate this building in recognition of the Tata Trusts’ leadership and collaboration with UC San Diego, and the Tata family’s pioneering philanthropy and singular impact to bring about societal change,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla.

“Tata Hall exemplifies UC San Diego’s tradition of non-tradition, inspiring cross-disciplinary collaboration among researchers and the next generation of innovators. This building will embody the spirit of the many shared values of UC San Diego and the Tata Trusts to benefit our global society,” he added.

Trustees of the Tata Trusts were present at the dedication of Tata Hall and participated in the ceremonial signing of a beam that will be incorporated into the construction of the building which is to be completed in 2018.

“I am very proud of being associated with this great institution. I realized that here in San Diego, I had seen a gold mine of intellectual capacity and enthusiasm. I kept feeling that there is something happening at UC San Diego that would make a difference in the years ahead. What we are doing is a big thing for mankind in our part of the world … and I look forward to this involvement as just a first part of what we can do together,” said Tata Trusts Chairman Ratan N. Tata.

Subra Suresh, Carnegie Mellon University president, will resign as president of Carnegie Mellon University on June 30, making his tenure the shortest in the school’s 117-year history and placing it in uncharted waters as it seeks a new leader for the second time in less than five years.

In a letter to the CMU community, he wrote, “My wife Mary and I have reflected on the long-term commitment needed to implement the university’s strategic plan, and we feel Carnegie Mellon would be best served now by a president who is ready to make that extended commitment to generating resources and guiding the university toward reaching these objectives.” Suresh has been at CMU for four years.

His brief statement to campus made no reference to a new position. Officials said they had no information about that, nor could they elaborate on any separation agreement between Mr. Suresh and the University.

Suresh, the ninth president of the renowned university, succeeded former president Jared Cohon, who served for 16 years. Suresh reflected on his achievements during his four-year tenure, including greater access for academically under-served populations through the creation of Presidential Scholarships and Fellowships, which provide financial aid to undergraduates and graduate students.

He also noted the expansion of the campus, including three new buildings and a quadrangle. “I am proud to see the growing commitment to excellence across the university’s fields and endeavors, led by our outstanding faculty, staff and students, and our renewed commitment to diversity and inclusion,” wrote Suresh, adding: “Mary and I have immensely enjoyed the time we have spent with students at all stages in their CMU education, in a variety of venues. We commend you for your outstanding work, and wish you all the best as you pursue your careers and lives.”

“I knew long before I came here that Carnegie Mellon is a special place, and it has been an unforgettable experience for Mary and me to join this community and work with so many of you,” said the president, acknowledging staff, faculty, and alumni at the university.

Jim Rohr, chairman of the Board of Trustees at CMU, responded to Suresh’s letter, stating: “Subra’s vision has left an indelible mark on CMU, and he has assembled a strong and diverse leadership team that is well-positioned to build on the momentum at Carnegie Mellon.” An interim president will be appointed as the university searches for a new president, said Rohr.

Prior to joining CMU, Suresh served as the director of the National Science Foundation, a $7-billion independent government science agency charged with advancing science, engineering research and education. He helmed the organization for almost six years.

Suresh has a B. Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology at Madras, a master’s degree from Iowa State University and a Ph.D. in science from MIT. After postdoctoral research at U.C.-Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, he joined the engineering faculty at Brown University. He joined MIT in 1993 as the R.P. Simmons Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and headed MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

In 2011, Suresh was awarded the Padma Shri by India’s president. In April 2014, he received the Benjamin Franklin medal for his research work in mechanical engineering and materials science.

Don’t stop when you are tired, stop when you are done!

By Asian Media USA ©

Chicago IL:  The Punjabi Cultural Society of Chicago (PCS) hosted its annual “Punjabi Youth Graduation and Scholarships Awards Night” on Sunday, June 11 at Viceroy of India Banquets in Lombard, Illinois. More than 250 people attended. Dr. Jasvinder Singh Chawla was the keynote speaker. Parwinder Singh Nanua introduced the program, setting the agenda for the evening and congratulated all the participants as well as the high school graduates.

It was a treat for the graduates and the “Rangla Punjab 2017” program participants. The celebration included keynote address, recognition awards, scholarship, cake-cutting ceremony, DJ music, dancing, socializing, networking, and sharing delicious dinner.

Vik Singh started the first segment and the trophies were awarded by Dhaliwal and Hardial Singh Deol, Amolak Singh, Sahota, Nandra, Amrit Mittal along with the PCS president Sukhmel Atwal. Rajinder Singh Mago hosted the second segment of the evening and asked PCS president Sukhmel Atwal and Chairman Hardial Singh Deol to interact with the Rangla Punjab participants and 2017 graduates.  Nimma Daliwal entertained the audience with renditions of beautiful Punjabi songs.

The evening continued by inviting all the high school graduates Gurpreet Singh, Harpal Singh, Simran Kaur Bhalla, Surpreet Kaur, Anmol Kaur Dhaliwal onto the stage and accompanied by their brief introductions and accomplishments.  The finalists were handpicked from the graduating Class of 2017 from within the Punjabi community. An independent panel of judges selected the winners from the applicants according to a grading criterion established by PCS, based on academic achievements, extracurricular activities, and volunteer community service. Surpreet Kaur and Harpal Singh were awarded with scholarships by the guest of honor. Simran Kaur Bhalla was recognized at the evening for being the recipient of the Youth of the Year award representing the entire state of Illinois. This in turn qualifies her for consideration for the Youth of the Year Award at the national level to represent the United States of America.

Student speaker Dilraj Singh Sekhon shared his experiences and advice with the graduates. A rousing speech by the Keynote speaker Dr. Jasvinder Singh Chawla resonated with the new graduates. Dr. Jasvinder Singh Chawla, Professor of Neurology at Loyola University Medical Center since 2002, and Chairman, Department of Neurology at Hines Veterans Affairs Hospital, Hines Illinois from last 8 years.

First, setting a goal, then having a backup plan, then having a second back up plan was his sure shot way to ensure success.  He stressed being part of the system to change the system from within. The bedrock to such success as outlined by him are focus, making plans, seeing through each plan, hard work and sacrifice. He strictly believed and conveyed what in his vision ‘No pain no gain’ meant in the realm of success in today’s world. Not only was the graduating class overwhelmed by his sharp intellect but the way he explained was a treat. Such a rousing and moving speech by Dr. Chawla earned him the title of one of the best guest speakers for PCS.

The Punjabi Cultural Society of Chicago is an all-volunteer, not-for-profit community organization devoted to promoting Punjabi culture, language, performing arts, healthy lifestyle and sports, education, and good citizenship in the metropolitan Chicago area.

India’s ambassador to the United Nations gave Castle Hill Middle School students in the Bronx, NY a lesson on diplomacy on Monday, June 5. Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin talked to seventh-grade students who are part of the NYC Junior Ambassadors program about the challenges he faces as diplomat, imparting the message that young people don’t have to wait until they’re adults to change the world.

His visit started with an exciting welcome, the like of which he said he has never gotten before, “I’ve been to many schools, public and private, and I’ve never had a welcome like this,” he said. Akbaruddin told the students about his role at the UN and said that he alone represents a “country of one billion people with both sides”, good and bad.

“One of the things I love to do is interact with young people,” Akbaruddin said. “We don’t really get the chance to do that.” Another perk of being in the Junior Ambassadors program is a chance to get a behind-the-scenes tour of the U.N headquarters in Manhattan.

The Indian envoy said he does not get much time at home because he can be working any day of the week, including weekends, and even though there may not be much room for personal life, he still enjoys his work as he is contributing to the world.

He told the class that he was happy to be there as he never gets to interact with young people and mentioned the fact that 65 percent of India’s population is under 30 years old, stating that it is a young country. He then went around the room asking students: “In one word, tell me what comes to your mind when I say India?”

Answers poured in, with words like: dance, tradition, prestigious, Bollywood, colors, music, Yoga, food, movies, jewelry, culture and clothes. Akbaruddin also addressed the fact that June 5th is World Environment Day and asked students what they, as individuals, wanted to do for the environment.

One student said he wanted to help out in the medical field to make it easier for people to get the care they needed at a more affordable cost. Another said that she wanted to spread the message and teach other people what the environment should be like while another wanted to plant more trees to provide more air. A few other students said that the world “should come together as one” and “tackle global warming otherwise there will be no future.”

When the ambassador asked the students what they didn’t like about India, they listed: high poverty rates, air pollution, child marriage and arranged marriage, to which one student showed concern that not enough attention is given to women’s rights as well as men’s rights regarding this topic. It prompted the Ambassador to say that today, both men and women are equal unlike what it was years ago.

“Every time you think of India, multiply the U.S. by three,” he said, also mentioning that India is like an elephant, “we are slow but we will get there eventually.” He added: “English is spoken by about say 400 million people in India so there are 800 million or so still who don’t speak English so there are very interesting combinations happening of our Indian languages and English. So naan pizza is one of those combinations where you try to mix a local culture with an international approach,” he said. “Soon you will have words in English which were originated in India and you had never heard of,” he added.

He explained how he got to where he is today and said that “joining the Foreign Service was unheard of” noting that he came from a small city in India and that he wanted to explain to the world what India is all about.

An Indian American teenager who holds two honorary associate degrees and is already Microsoft certified has created a community service organization to help students enhance their math skills. Pranav Kalyan, 13, created the Agoura Math Circle, which is a student-run nonprofit that aims to provide students the mathematical problem-solving skills and confidence needed to succeed academically and in real-world situations.

Kalyan founded the program in 2015 that now serves hundreds of students. The Agoura Math Circle is a student-run, nonprofit community service organization. Agoura Math Circle is a free educational program focusing on the problem-solving skills that lead students to success in both academics and the real world. More importantly, thought, Agoura Math Circle gives students confidence and the skills to tackle any type of problem, academic or otherwise. Our Goal is to create strong foundation for kids to increase critical thinking and motivate kids to aim for top universities in a fun full environment.

The Agoura Math Circle is started by Pranav Kalyan. He is a 7th grader at Lindero Canyon Middle school in Agoura Hills. He is Pursuing the “Associate Degree in Astrophysics, Mathematics, Natural Science, chemistry and physics” at Moorpark college.

The students are taught by volunteer tutors — typically high school students in advanced math courses — who create lesson plans and teach a class of up to 50 students. The tutors then create and administer an exam based on the lesson and score them to ultimately assist students in correcting their errors and improving test-taking skills for future examinations.

According to an AMC news release, the classes students embark on are typically far more advanced than the material they are taught in elementary and middle school. Due to the advanced level of the AMC class, the students regularly excel in school. Dozens of parents affirm the influence of the Agoura Math Circle on their children, with several testimonials proclaiming that they have noticed a significant increase in “student confidence” and a newfound “passion for higher level math,” AMC said.

May 21st 2017: Chicago: Professor S Ramachandram, Vice Chancellor of Osmania University called on Her Excellency Smt. Neeta Bhushan, IFS, Consul General of India in Chicago in her chambers at NBC Tower Building, Chicago, Illinois State.

Professor S Ramachandram had wide-ranging discussions with the Consul General on a number of subjects relating to professional education in India and the US and the wide scope of learning from each other’s core competencies and competitive advantages. “Though USA has been a hot destination for Indian students for their professional studies, there is a need to multiply the possibilities of the US students undertaking short term visits to India to understand it’s fascinating culture under their International Immersion Programs”, Professor Ramachandram suggested.

Professor S Ramachandram further discussed with the Consul General the ambitious plans of Osmania University in the domains of student and faculty exchange, lectures through video conferencing, joint degree programs, and a number of other initiatives of mutual benefit to the universities in India and the USA.

The Consul General underlined the need to further diversify and enrich the collaboration among the Universities in India and the USA considering the surging tide of globalization. She said that the Office of the Consulate General of India in Chicago will be pleased to help Osmania University in its campaign aimed at making the content of its educational programs both local and global in terms of their relevance. She advised Professor Ramachandram to submit a concept paper indicating the ways and means in which the office of the Consulate General of India in Chicago may be of help to Osmania University in its endeavours.

Recently, Professor Ramachandram participated in a high-profile Centenary Celebrations of Osmania University as the Chief Guest, organised by Glory of Hyderabad in Chicago.

Giving an example of his self-defeating personality disorder,” she said. “He’s going to ruin his family financially — if it’s contested, it’s going to cost over $100,000, easily.” It’s been a long road to splitsville for Abedin. She had stood by the much-mocked former congressman since 2011, when, a year into their marriage, he tearfully admitted Tweeting out an underwear selfie.

She stood at his side literally in 2013, at a press conference after Weiner self-scuttled his mayoral candidacy by getting caught continuing to sext with multiple women. “I love him, I’ve forgiven him, I believe in him,” she told reporters.

Two students of Indian origin have been named as Gates Cambridge Scholars, the University of Cambridge announced recently in a statement. The 90 new Scholars were selected from a total pool of around 6,000 applicants on the basis of their intellectual ability, commitment to improving the lives of others, leadership potential and academic fit with Cambridge.

The dozens of new scholars join nearly three dozen U.S. Scholars who were chosen earlier in the year — a list that included Indian Americans Sarita Deshpande and Angela Madira — to complete the full 90-scholar Gates Cambridge class. Among the international scholars named included Saloni Atal and Akhila Denduluri.

The Gates Cambridge Scholarship aims to identify and select applicants who are academically outstanding and are likely to be transformative leaders across all fields of endeavor, the university said in its news release.

Departments in Cambridge nominated 424 candidates for the scholarships and, of these, 202 were interviewed in the U.S. and Cambridge by four panels of interviewers drawn from across the university.

“Gates Cambridge Scholars come from all over the world, but they have some important things in common: great leadership potential, a commitment to improving the lives of others and an unparalleled passion for learning,” Bill Gates, co-chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said in a statement. “Melinda and I are pleased to welcome the class of 2017. We have no doubt they will have an incredible impact on topics of global importance.”

Following a national search, Kansas State University has named Amit Chakrabarti as its new dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Since February 2016, Chakrabarti has served as interim dean of the university’s largest college with 24 departments, and a broad array of majors, secondary majors and minors spanning many disciplines. He succeeds Peter Dorhout, who is now vice president for research at K-State. Prior to the interim position, Chakrabarti was the head of the department of physics and the William and Joan Porter chair in physics. He will report directly to the university’s provost and senior vice president and serve on the Academic Council of Deans.

“I am excited to welcome Dr. Chakrabarti as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences,” said April Mason, provost and senior vice president. “He has shown remarkable leadership and valuable collaborative skills during his tenure at Kansas State University. Those skills will continue to benefit students, faculty, staff and alumni as the university progresses with its goal to become a Top 50 public research university by 2025.”

As dean, Chakrabarti will be the college’s chief academic and administrative officer. He will provide leadership and support to all undergraduate and graduate academic degree programs in the college; oversee its continued excellence and growth in research; and work with faculty, department heads, deans and administrators on interdisciplinary and collaborative projects. Other duties include maintaining alumni and donor relations.

“The College of Arts and Sciences is built on a solid foundation,” Chakrabarti said. “With the college’s talented faculty and amazing students, we can make more opportunities available to K-Staters in research and education in the arts and sciences. I am honored to serve in this role to continue the college’s success in research, scholarship and diversity.”

Chakrabarti became head of the physics department in 2011, where he led a 30-faculty member team, many who are nationally recognized for teaching and research excellence. Chakrabarti was the recipient of the Presidential Award for Outstanding Department Head in 2016 and the Presidential Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in 2002. He also received K-State’s 2009 Commerce Bank Distinguished Graduate Faculty Award, which recognizes quality research and advising of graduate students, and is a two-time winner of the Stamey Award for Teaching Excellence from the College of Arts and Sciences. He has published more than 150 peer-reviewed papers and mentored eight doctoral students and several postdoctoral fellows.

A theoretical physicist with interests in soft matter and statistical physics, Chakrabarti has worked on diverse soft-matter systems, including liquid mixtures, polymers, liquid crystals, aerosols, colloids, nanoparticles and most recently, self-assembly of proteins. His individual and collaborative research projects have received extramural funding from agencies such as NASA and the National Science Foundation.

Chakrabarti has a doctorate in physics from the University of Minnesota, and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in physics from the University of Calcutta, India. He joined K-State in 1990 and was named a full professor in 2000.