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Manipal : Manipal Academy of Higher Education, one of India’s leading group of Educational institutes has announced the appointment of Lt Gen (Dr) M D Venkatesh as the new Vice Chancellor. Lt Gen (Dr) M D Venkatesh, an outstanding educator and currently the Vice-Chancellor of Sikkim-Manipal University, will be the new Vice-Chancellor of Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), the deemed university and an Institution of Eminence.

He will take over charge on July 1, 2020 from Dr Vinod Bhat who has successfully completed his tenure. Dr. Vinod Bhat will be taking over a new role as Executive Vice President from July 1, 2020. 

According to the announcement made by Chancellor Dr Ramdas Pai, MAHE,“ The search committee, meant to select the Vice-Chancellor has finalized Lt Gen (Dr) Venkatesh’s name, who has significantly contributed to the field of education, being the Vice-Chancellor of Sikkim-Manipal University since June, 2017 and earlier as the Academic Dean in the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune. We extend a warm welcome to Lt Gen (Dr) M D Venkatesh and wish him good luck for his new role. I would also like to thank the outgoing Vice Chancellor Dr. Vinod Bhat for his immense contributions, especially in raising MAHE to the status of Institution of Eminence, recognized by Ministry of Human Resources Development, in setting up more than 100 research centres in the varsity and improving MAHE’s position in global ranking.The incoming Vice-Chancellor Lt Gen (Dr) Venkatesh, who is completing his tenure in Sikkim-Manipal University, has significantly contributed to the improvements in infrastructure, academic processes, and IT infrastructure of SMU. He has been able to bring research and publication into sharp focus and SMU has seen a remarkable upswing in the number of projects and publications.’

Lt Gen. (Dr) Venkatesh graduated from Mysore Medical College in 1978 with an exceptional academic record and was commissioned in Army Medical Corps in 1979. He acquired his MS (ENT) from Mumbai University in 1986 and has been an outstanding ENT Surgeon. He has also undergone training in Cochlear Implantation and Neurotology in India and abroad and is among the earliest Cochlear implant surgeons of the country. Lt Gen (Dr) Venkatesh has trained generations of undergraduate and postgraduate students in the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune. Over the years, he held several senior academic positions in AFMC including the deanship. He was also a founder faculty of the department of Medical Education Technology at AFMC.

Lt. Gen. (Dr) Venkatesh has served the armed forces for 38 years, during which, besides academics, he has also held numerous administrative positions and is credited with many achievements. He was instrumental in instituting the “on-line admission process” for UG, PG and Post-Doctoral admissions in the Armed Forces Training Institutions that ensured total transparency and efficiency in the system. His pursuit of quality was recognized by NAAC in accrediting AFMC with a CGPA of 3.66 out of 4 in March 2015. He was also the head of the premier training establishment of AMC that provides training to all para medical personnel of AMC and medical officers of AFMC. He has also been on various committees of MCI, NBE, ICMR and MOH & FW.  He is an assessor of NAAC as well.