Sharath Ananthamurthy likely to be next VC of UoM

Sharath Ananthamurthy, a Physics professor from Bangalore University, is most likely to be the next Vice Chancellor of the University of Mysore (UoM).

The UoM, founded by Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar, celebrated its centenary year, last year. Besides his academic achievements, professor Sharath is recognised as the son of Jnanpith awardee U R Ananthamurthy, who was also a close associate of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, thanks to their socialist affiliations.

The race for the post of vice chancellor of the UoM is almost in the final stages as the Search Committee has shortlisted three names. According to sources, the Search Committee has recommended the names of N S Ashok Kumar, R K Somashekar and Sharath Ananthamurthy — all three serving in the Bangalore University.

The post is lying vacant after K S Rangappa demitted office on January 10, 2017. The Search Committee was led by former VC of Visvesvaraya Technological University H P Khincha, with former VC of Gulbarga University V B Coutinho, VC of Central University of Karnataka, Kalaburagi, H M Maheshwaraiah, and University Grants Commission (UGC) nominee V S Chauhan as members.

In response to an invitation to fill the post, over 300 aspirants had applied. Following certain guidelines, the committee scrutinised the applications and shortlisted 12 candidates for the second meeting. Now, in the second meeting, held recently in Bengaluru, the committee has recommended three names to the Principal Secretary of the Higher Education department. The Principal Secretary is likely to convene another round of meeting with the authorities concerned to finalise the name of the VC.

Besides Sharath, the other two persons shortlisted for the coveted post also have proven academic and administrative excellence.  While N S Ashok Kumar, professor of Mass Communication and Journalism, is a Fulbright Fellow, R K Somashekar, professor of Environmental Science, was Registrar (evaluation) of the Bangalore University.

After Rangappa retired, Yeshwanth Dongre was appointed as in-charge VC for the first six weeks but as his term as Dean for Commerce ended, Dayananda Mane, the senior most dean of Arts, was posted as in-charge VC on February 20.

Sharath’s father was both a student and a teacher in the UoM, English department, before he travelled to the United Kingdom for higher studies. Sharath himself had also taught in the UoM for a couple of years from 1996.