Prof. BASUTHKAR JAGADEESHWAR RAO
VICE-CHANCELLOR
Professor Basuthkar Jagadeeshwar Rao, currently the Vice-chancellor at Univ of Hyderabad served as Senior Professor, Chair of Biology, Dean-Faculty, at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, and was associated with Biology Department at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai for about 24 y and served as Senior Professor and Chair of the Biology programme before moving on to IISER-Tirupati in 2018. He is a National Science Talent Awardee (1st in AP, 16th rank in India), received his PhD from Indian Institute of Science (Bengaluru) and worked as a Research Scientist at Yale University Medical school (USA) before joining TIFR, Mumbai.
Prof. Rao is a Fellow of all three National Academies of India, Sir JC Bose awardee from the Department of Science and Technology. He has made fundamental contributions in the areas of Genome Biology and Cellular regulations and adaptations where he published about 160 peer reviewed international publications with high citations and impact. His publications range from experimental to theoretical Biology to Chemistry and Physics.
He has chaired and been a member of several National and International committees on various policy matters related to Science, Technology and Education. He has widely travelled and lectured across the globe and is a strong votary of knowledge-centric, concepts-oriented interactive modes of learning methods combined with a strong “do-it-yourself” critical thinking model.
Prof. Rao has won many awards and recognitions. He has contributed significantly as the Chief-Editor of Journal of Biosciences, a flagship journal of Indian Academy of Sciences and Springer Nature, combined and has been instrumental in its high impact. He has been a DST-
Inspire teacher, articulating the current excitements of basic Biology to undergraduate students across India. He perceives Biology as a complex manifestation of physics-chemistry of a dynamically evolving system and emphasizes the design principles in Biology. He has
delivered numerous technical and public lectures for varied audiences. Reaching young minds has been his passion.