PATNA: Renowned economist Arvind Panagariya, a professor at Columbia and Padma Bhushan awardee, has been appointed the chancellor of Nalanda University (NU), said university officials aware of the matter.
The University received communication about Panagariya’s appointment as the chancellor from the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India on Friday evening.
Earlier, Panagariya was also the vice chairman of the Niti Ayog and chief economist at the Asian Development Bank (ADB). He also worked with the World Bank, IMF, and UNCTAD in various capacities.
He succeeds Dr Vijay P Bhatkar, who was appointed NU chancellor in 2017 and had an extended tenure. The chancellor has a term of three years or till the appointment of a successor.
Professor Panagariya is widely regarded as an expert on the Indian economy. Currently, he is a Professor of Economics and Jagdish Bhagwati Professor of Indian Political Economy at Columbia University and is also the director of Deepak and Neera Raj Centre on Indian Economic Policies at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, New York, USA.
NU vice-chancellor Professor Sunaina Singh, during whose term the sprawling campus of the university has come up, expressed his gratitude to the President of India and External Affairs Minister for the appointment of Prof Panagariya as the Chancellor of Nalanda University.
“A young University will benefit immensely from his scholarship, experience, and academic erudition,” said Sunaina Singh, who is also having an extended tenure amid speculations that she might get another term.
