University of Wollongong’s GIFT City campus gets first director in Nimay Kalyani

NEW DELHI: The University of Wollongong India (UOW India) has appointed Nimay Kalyani as the director of its India Campus at GIFT City, Gujarat.

UOW India is one of the two foreign universities to set up campuses in India. The other university set up in GIFT City was Deakin University.

Originally from Gujarat, Kalyani had settled in Australia in 2010 after diverse international experiences.

“He joined UOW as a project director – commissioning (India), responsible for establishing the GIFT City campus, which includes collaborating with key stakeholders across UOW and UOW Global Enterprises (UOWGE),” said a statement issued by the university.

UOW pro vice-chancellor (Global Strategy) professor Tony Travaglione congratulated Nimay on his appointment.

“We are delighted to welcome Nimay to this important role at UOW India. Our upcoming GIFT City campus will be a world-class facility and we are excited to see new developments taking shape under Nimay’s leadership. His extensive background and wealth of experience in academia, international relations and business development makes him the best fit to set up and manage a world-class campus in India,” said Travaglione.

The two universities were approved before the University Grants Commission framed its guidelines allowing foreign higher educational Institutions to set up and operate campuses in India. The GIFT City campuses are governed by the GIFT City - International Financial Services Centre, notificed in October, 2022. The UGC guidelines came in November, 2023.

Also read UGC policy on foreign universities threat to Indian democracy: DU teachers' body

GIFT City UoW director

Prior to joining UOW, Kalyani was at the University of Newcastle, where he also played a key role in expanding the South Asia partnerships for the Faculty of Business and Law.

His decade-long contribution to academia included research and teaching in strategy, change management, entrepreneurship, and innovation management.

On the appointment, Kalyani said he is excited to take on the role of the Campus Director and the opportunities it will bring for Indian students.

“Growing up in the back alleys of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, I guess I have always been a Gujarati and by virtue an Indian at heart. As a campus director, my role will be to provide strategic input and operational and financial leadership to ensure the successful delivery of the university’s educational objectives and that the highest quality student experience is achieved,”said Kalyani.

Talking about the plans for the university, he said, “We are also partnering with large corporates such as IBM India to extend the relationship from UOW Dubai to UOW India. This will enable us to enrich our curriculum through industry engagement, bring in industry experts in classrooms and bring real life case studies and assignments to the courses.The entire workforce being hired at UOW India, and the support being received from UOW Australia, UOW Dubai and UOWGE is built on the objective of ensuring students receive a very high-quality educational experience with rewarding career outcomes.”

The university is also in discussion with the local government organisations to place themselves as strategic education partners.

“We aim to get support from this network with student placements, internships, capstone projects and importantly joint research and publications between our academics and these organisations,” said Kalyani.