Noida, Nov 20

The Dr Pritam Singh Transformational Leader Award 2023, which is awarded to serving Vice Chancellor/Director for leadership excellence contributing to the Indian Higher Education, has been bestowed on Prof. (Dr.) C Raj Kumar, the Founding Vice Chancellor of O.P. Jindal Global University.

The prestigious Award was presented to the Vice Chancellor Prof. (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar for his remarkable leadership and distinguished contribution to higher education.

He was cited as a â€˜Game Changer Vice Chancellorâ€™ and an â€˜Exemplary Higher Education Leaderâ€™.

Kumar is dedicated to institution building as exemplified by his extraordinary leadership of the O.P. Jindal Global University. It is an exceptional contribution to the nation by placing India on the global academic map in the field of law, social sciences and humanities.

â€œEducation is going to be instrumental in redefining the leadership of the future. There must be a new imagination for Indian Education - one which draws inspiration from the past, but will also have to look to the future. Transformational change needs to take place at every level of policy making, regulation and governance in higher education if Indian universities are serious about seeking global excellence and achieving higher rankings,â€ said Kumar upon receiving the distinguished award.

He thanked the eminent jury for bestowing him with the distinction of the award and said: â€œIndia, a country renowned for its varied population and rich cultural legacy, has advanced significantly over the years in a number of fields. It is important to imagine a future wherein India leads the world in education, especially in the area of business schools and colleges in law, humanities and social sciences, as the centennial of India's independence draws near. Pertinently, the Indian higher education system commanded awe and respect in the ancient world long before the emergence of the first university in Europe and attracted the best students and academicians from around the world. Therefore, we must learn from our past work on the present to reflect positively on our future.â€

Dr Pritam Singh Leadership Award & PRISM 2023 Valedictory Function was held at the campus of Birla institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH).

The Vice Chancellor also delivered the Keynote address on 'India at 2047: Building World-Class Business Schools & Universities Perspective from a game changer Vice Chancellor'.

The Dr. Pritam Singh Foundation (PSF) has taken a new initiative of conferring Leadership Awards this year to cherish and celebrate the legacy of the late Dr. Pritam Singh in leadership education, training, and research.

Under the Dr. Pritam Singh Leadership Awards, two awards have been instituted separately for industry and Academia leaders.

Two juries have been constituted to consider the nominations received by the Dr. Pritam Singh Foundation.

The Jury for Academic Leadership Awards has been presided over by Dr D P Singh, former Chairman, UGC with Dr Bhimaraya Metri, Director, IIM, Nagpur, and Dr H Chaturvedi, Director, BIMTECH as members.

The meeting of the jury was recently held last week under the Chairmanship of Dr D P Singh.

Prof. Dabiru Sridhar Patnaik, Registrar, O. P. Jindal Global University lauded the achievement and said, â€œProf. (Dr.) C. Raj Kumarâ€™s principal contribution has been to show how deeply globalisation has influenced higher education in India. His dedication and commitment led JGU towards achieving academic excellence which brings its students a truly global and diverse experience, while increasing the global footprint of Indian higher education. Kumar continues with his outstanding academic work to contribute towards building an enhanced and comprehensive understanding of the role of higher education in India and beyond as means of building a society that is ethical and based on rule of law.â€

Dr. Pritam Singh worked tirelessly to transform institutions, inspire thousands of people in academia and corporate sector, contributed in higher education practices and policies, and mentored management schools to become high purpose at national and global level.

He contributed to raise the benchmark of management education by bringing international accreditations to lndia.

He was a world class academician with an Indian soul and a bridge between industry and academia.

The Dr. Pritam Singh foundation is established to take forward his philosophy, school of thought and life lessons to the larger community of academia and industry.

JGU Vice Chancellor C. Raj Kumar receives inaugural Dr Pritam Singh Transformational Leader Award 2023