By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 30 Jan: University of Petroleum and Energy Sciences announced, today, the appointment of Dr Ram K Sharma as its Vice Chancellor. Dr Sharma has succeeded Dr Sunil Rai, who will now take on the role of the Chancellor, UPES.
An accomplished leader in the higher education domain, Dr Sharma has been driving academic transformation and innovation, internationalisation, use of technology to solve access, quality and equity related issues across leading Indian institutions. Prior to joining UPES in February 2020 as Dean- Academics and then as Pro Vice Chancellor in February 2022, he has held leadership roles at Plaksha University as the Founding Director, at Shiv Nadar University (now an Institution of Eminence) as Director – International Relations, Associate Dean, Academics and Student Welfare, and at Amity Group of Institutions as Deputy Director, Academics. As Dr Sharma takes on the role of Vice Chancellor, he will be responsible for driving academic excellencein every walk of the university’s functioning including faculty recruitment and development, student experience and operational excellence, research, start-ups and innovation, rankings, accreditations and perception, internationalisation and creating an impeccable academic reputation for the university.
Dr Sharma has significant experience of setting-up green field universities as well as transforming brown field institutions. He helped some of the leading institutions in the country establish and transform verticals across curricular design, development, programme launches, teaching and learning, research, entrepreneurship and innovation, e-learning, and quality assurance including strategic interventions for rankings, and accreditations.
“I am elated and honoured to take ahead the university’s mission and purpose, both of which are well aligned with my passion to explore and create opportunities for students- the leaders and change-makers of tomorrow. I am excited to embark on this journey along with a highly motivated team”, said Dr Ram K Sharma.
He holds a PhD in Experimental Physics from UGC-DAE Consortium for Scientific Research and MLS University India, and an MSc in Physics with university merit. He has received many honors and awards including Chevening Gurukul Fellowship to pursue a leadership programme at the University of Oxford; Fulbright Fellowship to work on MOOCs and online education at University of California Berkeley and Coursera; International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) Award by the US Department of State; Junior and Senior Research Fellowships by CSIR, Government of India among many others.
