Tanya Mary Koshy is Senior Program Manager at the Office for International Affairs, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. At TISS, she oversees all operational, administrative, and program management aspects of the international office. She develops, facilitates, and organizes exchange and teaching programs, including dual and joint degrees, research projects, international admissions, field exposure, and cultural immersion activities for students and researchers, workshops, and high-level conferences. She has a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Pune and a master’s degree in international security from Sciences Po, Paris. Before joining TISS, she worked in the fields of anti-trafficking, conservation, sustainable development, and country of origin research.
Field of Study India: Higher Education Administration
Anil Kumar Tripathi
Dr. Anil Kumar Tripathi is Professor of Biotechnology and Director of the Institute of Science at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. At BHU, Dr. Tripathi was instrumental in establishing a DST-supported state-of-the-art Sophisticated Analytical Technical Help Institute (SATHI) and a BIRAC-supported Bioincubator for Nurturing Entrepreneurship for Scaling Technologies (BioNEST). Since their inception, he has served as Coordinator of both SATHI-BHU and BioNEST-BHU. Dr. Tripathi obtained his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in botany from Banaras Hindu University and has published 92 peer-reviewed articles. His research focus on genetics, genetic engineering, systems biology, and synthetic biology of a plant growth promoting bacterium. He is a recipient of the prestigious J C Bose National Fellowship in addition to several other national awards and grants.
Prabin Kumar Panigrahi
Dr. Prabin Kumar Panigrahi is the Dean (Faculty) and Professor of Information Systems at Indian Institute of Management Indore. Prior to this, he was the Chair of Post Graduate Programme and Chair of Executive Post Graduate Programme of the institute. He holds his master’s from National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, India, and Ph.D. from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India. His current teaching and research interests include Emerging Technologies, Technology Adoption, Analytics, Social Inclusion in Information System, Cyber Security, and Artificial Intelligence. Prabin has various professional honours, awards, and fellowships both internationally and nationally across teaching, research, and industry. He has published several research articles and cases in peer reviewed international journals and case repositories of repute. He is also a member of the editorial board for some international journals. Prabin is also member of high-level committees in state, central government, and corporate bodies.
C. Krishna Mohan
Dr. C. Krishna Mohan is Professor at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Hyderabad, and has served as Dean of Public and Corporate Relations at the institute. He was also the founder Head of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Hyderabad. He received his M.Tech. from NITK Surathkal and his Ph.D. from IIT Madras. Dr. Krishna Mohan heads the Visual Learning and Intelligence Lab at IIT Hyderabad, working in the research areas of video content analysis, computer vision, machine learning, and deep learning. He has published more than 90 papers in peer-reviewed international journals and conference proceedings. He serves as a reviewer for several reputed international conferences and IEEE journals, and is Senior Member of IEEE; Member of ACM; AAAI Member; Life Member of ISTE; and Fellow of IEI, IETE, and TAS.
Elizabeth Joseph Abba
Dr. Elizabeth Joseph Abba is Associate Professor at the School of Sustainability and Associate Dean of International Programs, XIM University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha. She serves as a member of the joint board of Xavier-Emlyon Business School , Alumni Association and is the MAGIS Exchange Program Liaison at XIM. She also coordinates the Sustainability Discovery Program, an immersive and first-hand learning experience for students to understand sustainable communities. Dr. Abba is also an adjunct faculty member at the Division of Environmental Health, San Diego State University (SDSU). Her research interests include fine particles speciation and source apportionment, health-effect linkages due to air pollution, indoor air quality measurement, community development, and sustainability management. She was awarded the prestigious Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral and Professional Research Scholarship (2008-09) that supported her nine-month stint at SDSU. Since 2013, she has been hosting SDSU undergraduate students on study abroad programs in India. She earned her Ph.D. in environmental management from the National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai.
Barani Gunatharan
Dr. G. Barani is Associate Professor at the Bharathiar School of Management and Entrepreneur Development and the founder Coordinator of BU-Centre for International Affairs, Bharathiar University (BU), Coimbatore. She is a participant of the Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies training course “Management of Internationalization” organized by Leibniz University Hannover, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), and the German Rectors’ Conference. She participated in the U.S.-India Higher Education Collaboration and Internationalization training course sponsored by the U.S. Mission in India and coordinated by Miami University. She was the Indian delegate to NAFSA 2022 conference in Denver, Colorado and presented at NAFSA 2023 held in Washington, D.C. Dr. Barani has published eight books and over 60 research articles in journals of national and international repute. In addition to receiving prestigious research grants from ICSSR IMPRESS and RUSA, she has participated in several international conferences in Singapore, Dubai, and the U.S.
Alka Anil Mahajan
Dr. Alka Anil Mahajan is the Dean of the Mukesh Patel School of Technology, Management & Engineering, NMIMS University, Mumbai. With over 36 years of experience in teaching and administration, she is responsible for the academic administration of the school’s seven engineering campuses across the country. She earned her Ph.D. in electronics and communication engineering from the Delhi Technological University and is an active researcher with several publications in international journals and conferences proceedings. As a member of the Standing Committee on the scheme of Development of Women’s Studies in Indian Universities and Colleges and Capacity Building of Women Managers, constituted by the Indian Ministry of Education, Dr. Mahajan played an instrumental role in preparing the 12th Five Year Plan of the University Grants Commission (UGC) Scheme and Guidelines on Capacity Building for Women Managers in Higher Education. She serves on the editorial and reviewer boards of several international journals and is credited with introducing innovative pedagogical techniques to improve student learning and impacting academic administration through her resourceful ideas.
Rupa Agarwal
Prof. Rupa Agarwal has 28 years of experience in various aspects of design. The most significant contribution is in design education. She has handled many academic administrative posts in National Institute Fashion Technology, notable amongst which are Chairperson of Department of Fashion Communication and Chairperson of the Master of Design program, Campus Academic Coordinator (Academic Head) of the Mumbai Campus. She is currently heading the craft cluster initiative at NIFT across all its 18 campuses as Head Cluster and is located at NIFT Mumbai. Her core teaching areas are Design Methodology, Design Research, Interactive spaces, Design History and Sustainable systems. Her expertise in curriculum design has led her to be part of many committees within NIFT. She is part of the core committee to develop the curriculum of Design Thinking for classes 6-12. It is being facilitated by the Department of Skill development, Ministry of Education for Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). There are over 3,000 schools that are running the course in 2023-2024.
She believes that teaching is a creative process. Design thinking must be applied to design teaching as well. She is passionate about the ways in which designers could use their unique skills to solve sustainability issues. In the process of doing her Ph.D. from IDC School of Design, IIT Bombay, she developed a nuanced understanding of the subject. Her endeavor was to develop a versatile model that is relevant in any domain of design. The research contribution of her thesis was a conjecture-analysis model for integrating sustainability in design pedagogy.
Siva Naga Pavani Ayinampudi
Siva Naga Pavani Ayinampudi is a life scientist with a master’s and Ph.D. in animal biology from the University of Hyderabad. She holds a remarkable academic record, having received the Achievers Award three times and the Kiran Kumar gold medal in 2010. She is currently serving as an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) with the Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TSWREIS), Government of Telangana, overseeing 30 residential undergraduate institutions. Prior to this, she was a lecturer and taught zoology at the undergraduate level. In her role as OSD, she championed the efforts to improve the quality of education for around 30,000 young women from under-served communities in Telangana. Her leadership has transformed institutional practices, fostering international collaborations with renowned universities such as Harvard, John Hopkins, and the University of Toledo, along with partnerships with organizations like Launch Girls, United Way, and Nirmaan.
Under Pavani’s guidance, TSWREIS’s Department of Higher Education introduced pioneering programs, including a bachelor’s in pharmacy, agriculture, and unique courses like BSc in design and technology, BSc in bioinformatics, and French as a second language. She co-created the TSWREIS Research Council, promoting research engagement among students and staff, and is the convenor of the institution’s first international conference, BioMe 2023.
As a Fulbright-Nehru Master’s fellow, Pavani is deepening her understanding of higher education administration, learn best practices, and contribute to enhancing the landscape of higher education in India. She aspires to democratize education, and design customized frameworks for institutions enabling them to serve as catalysts in societal transformation.
Neena Sinha
Dr. Neena Sinha is a professor at the University School of Management Studies, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi. She has served as the dean of the University School of Management Studies, and has held numerous administrative roles, including director of development. She is currently the co-chairperson for accreditation and ranking for the university. She has been a visiting research scholar at Kobe University, Japan. Her experience there, along with teaching Slovakian students in 2012, provided unique insights into intercultural communication and cross-border partnerships.
Dr. Sinha has co-authored several journal publications with international researchers. She has presented her research at conferences, including the University of Manchester, UK, and the ITU Symposia on ICTs and climate change in London. In 2017, she was invited to conduct a masterclass on “Environment Law to Private Environmental Governance: Integrating Economics, Ecology, and Law” at an international conference at Saint Petersburg State University, Russia. Dr. Sinha is a member of the Strategic Management Society and the Academy of Management. She is regularly invited by the state-owned broadcaster Rajya Sabha TV as an expert on issues of educational administration, including discussions on the internationalization of higher education and women empowerment in higher education.