MAHE appoints retired Army General as its new VC

NEW DELHI: Manipal Academy of Higher Education, formerly Manipal University, has announced the appointment of Lt-General (Retd) Dr. MD Venkatesh as its new Vice Chancellor. He will take charge as the new VC of the institute from July 1, 2020 from the outgoing vice chancellor Dr. Vinod Bhat. Dr. MD Venkatesh is currently serving as the Vice Chancellor of Sikkim Manipal University and has formerly served as the academic dean of the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune.
Chancellor of MAHE, Dr Ramdas Pai, said, “We extend a warm welcome to Lt Gen (Dr) M D Venkatesh and wish him good luck for his new role. I would also like to thank the outgoing Vice Chancellor Dr. Vinod Bhat for his immense contributions, especially in raising MAHE to the status of Institution of Eminence, recognized by Ministry of Human Resources Development, in setting up more than 100 research centres in the varsity and improving MAHE’s position in global ranking.”

About the new Vice Chancellor
Lt Gen. (Dr) Venkatesh graduated from Mysore Medical College in 1978 with an exceptional academic record and was commissioned in the Army Medical Corps in 1979. He acquired his MS (ENT) from Mumbai University in 1986 and has been an outstanding ENT Surgeon. He has also undergone training in Cochlear Implantation and Neurotology in India and abroad and is among the earliest Cochlear implant surgeons of the country. Lt Gen (Dr) Venkatesh has trained generations of undergraduate and postgraduate students in the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune. Over the years, he held several senior academic positions in AFMC including the deanship. He was also a founding faculty of the department of Medical Education Technology at AFMC.

Lt. Gen. (Dr) Venkatesh has served the armed forces for 38 years, during which, besides academics, he has also held numerous administrative positions and is credited with many achievements. He was instrumental in instituting the “on-line admission process” for UG, PG and Post-Doctoral admissions in the Armed Forces Training Institutions that ensured total transparency and efficiency in the system. His pursuit of quality was recognized by NAAC in accrediting AFMC with a CGPA of 3.66 out of 4 in March 2015. He was also the head of the premier training establishment of AMC that provides training to all paramedical personnel of AMC and medical officers of AFMC. He has also been on various committees of MCI, NBE, ICMR and MOH & FW. He is an assessor of NAAC as well.