OBE FACSS MPHIL PHD
Professor Rao is Vice-Chancellor of Krea University. She previously served as Vice-Chancellor of the Asian University for Women (AUW) and as Pro-Director (Learning and Teaching) at SOAS, University of London.
A distinguished political scientist, Professor Rao is an expert on urban governance and has published widely in the field of comparative politics and public policy. She has extensive experience of public service and has served as an advisor to a range of bodies including the UK Audit Commission, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), and the Government of India.
She was formally Pro-Warden at Goldsmiths College and responsible for academic affairs. She arrived in the UK in 1988 and took up her first post as Research Fellow for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in 1989. Nirmala completed her PhD in 1994 and appointed to lectureship at Goldsmiths in the same year. She has served on a number of public bodies and was awarded the OBE in 2010.
