Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar

Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar is an engineering professor who went on to run Jawaharlal Nehru University and then the University Grants Commission. In 2026 he was named for the Padma Shri in the field of literature and education, from Delhi ^[1].

Engineer

Kumar was born on 8 April 1960 and comes from Mamidala village in Nalgonda district, Telangana ^[2]. He earned his MS and PhD in electrical engineering at IIT Madras and did postdoctoral research at the University of Waterloo in Canada ^[2]. He was a professor at IIT Delhi until April 2025, working on nanoelectronic and power semiconductor devices, with more than 250 papers, three books and several patents ^[2].

JNU and the UGC

He was vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University from January 2016 to February 2022, where engineering and management programmes were introduced ^[2]. He then chaired the University Grants Commission from February 2022 to April 2025 ^[2].

During his time at the UGC, the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) was rolled out and expanded ^[2]. Universities were allowed to admit students twice a year, students could study for two degrees at once, and four-year undergraduates became eligible for PhDs ^[2]. He worked on putting the National Education Policy 2020 into practice, including four-year degrees, the Academic Bank of Credits, Professors of Practice, and rules for foreign universities to open campuses in India ^[2]. He now chairs a review committee on NEP 2020 for the Ministry of Education ^[2].

He is a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering and edits IETE Technical Review ^[2].