New Delhi, 27 December 2023: Prof. KK Aggarwal has joined the South Asian University, New Delhi as its new President. Prof. Aggarwal, who was the founding Vice Chancellor of Guru Govind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi, was appointed President of this international university by its Governing Board in its 11th Meeting in Kathmandu on 18 & 19 December 2023. He has become the third regular President of SAU since the inception of the university in 2010 by member nations of SAARC.
Prof. Ranjan Kumar Mohanty, who has been the university’s Acting President, handed over the charge to Prof. KK Aggarwal today in SAU’s campus in Maidan Garhi, New Delhi. Prof. Aggarwal had a brief interaction with the available Faculty members and university officials. He spoke about the necessity for all the members of SAU to work as a family with a sense of ownership to achieve the objectives of this beautiful institution. He shared his past experiences and also expressed optimism on the great achievements and desirable expansions the university can have in the near future. He also took a round of the campus to oversee the campus development.
An accomplished academic and an experienced administrator, Prof. Aggarwal has had his stint at the National Board of Accreditation as its Chairman. He is also the former Chairman of the Board of Governors, MNIT, Jaipur. Before he became the VC at GGS Indraprastha University where he spent 10 years from 1998 to 2008, he was the Pro Vice-Chancellor at Guru Jambheshwar University, Hisar for three years.
He was the President of the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE) from 2002-2004, the President of the Computer Society of India (CSI) from 2007-2009, the President of the South East Asia Regional Computer Confederation (SEARCC) from 2008-2010 and the Sectional President (IT & CS) of the Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA).
Prof. Aggarwal received his PhD and Master’s Degree from Kurukshetra University, Haryana. He obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Panjab University, Chandigarh. He had a distinguished career of nearly three decades as an academic in NIT, Kurukshetra, engaged in teaching and research activities in Computer Engineering and Information Technology. Besides various books that he has authored, Prof. Aggarwal has published over 400 research papers in academic journals of repute, about half of which are international journals. He has been invited to deliver lectures by various organisations, institutions and corporate conglomerates from around the world.
The industry has widely consulted him, most notable being his contribution towards the Reliability Analysis for Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). Prof. Aggarwal was conferred the Honorary Fellowship by the Broadcast Society of India and by the Indian Society for Technical Education (ISTE). He has been decorated with Life Time Achievement Awards by various organisations, including the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE) and the Computer Society of India (CSI).