Professor Nirmala Rao OBE will start her new role on the 16th of August, 2022.
A distinguished political scientist, Professor Nirmala 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.
Established in 2018, Krea University is located in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, in South India. As a liberal arts institution focussing on holistic approach to education, its mission rooted in interwoven learning is to provide a transformative and cutting-edge broad based experience to create well rounded minds that are prepared for a change driven future.
In her new role, Professor Rao will steer the university’s vision forward, building on its strong foundations of ethics, innovation, excellence, inclusivity, and accountability.
Professor Rao comments, “It is an honour and a privilege to have been entrusted with leading Krea University on the next phase of its development and growth. Krea embraces a culture of learning and has a holistic vision of education that is tailored to foster a passion for lifelong learning and engender civically engaged and conscientious citizens: values it shares with Lucy Cavendish. I am looking forward to building on its innovations and forging close relationships with the students, staff and faculty at the University. I was born and brought up in that region of South India, so I am particularly thrilled to be reconnecting with my roots after more than four decades. It is my hope too that being in India will give me an opportunity to get to know members of the Lucy community who are based there.”
Professor Rao previously served as Vice-Chancellor of the Asian University for Women (AUW) and as Pro-Director (Learning and Teaching) at SOAS, University of London. She was formally Pro-Warden at Goldsmiths College and responsible for academic affairs.
Nirmala arrived in the UK in 1988 and took up her first post as Research Fellow for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in 1989. She later completed her PhD in 1994 and was appointed to a lectureship at Goldsmiths in the same year. She has served on a number of public bodies and was awarded the OBE in 2010.