Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin was an Indian politician, writer and activist of the Indian independence movement. A senior leader of the Indian National Congress, following India's independence, he became the first Minister of Education in the Indian government. He is commonly remembered as Maulana Azad; the word Maulana is an honorific meaning 'Our Master' and he had adopted Azad (Free) as his pen name. His contribution to establishing the education foundation in India is recognised by celebrating his birthday as National Education Day across India.
Jawaharlal Nehru University is a public research university located in Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university is known for leading faculties and research emphasis on social sciences and applied sciences.
Maulana Azad National Urdu University is a Central University located in the city of Hyderabad in the Indian state of Telangana. It was named after Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, India's first Minister of Education, a freedom fighter in India's struggle for independence, and a scholar of Islam and Urdu literature. It was the only Urdu university in India until the Dr. Abdul Haq Urdu University was established in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh in 2016.
Amitabh Mattoo is one of India's leading thinkers and writers on Modern and Contemporary History, Political science, International relations. He was awarded Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2009. He is Dean of the School of International Studies, Chair & professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, honorary professor of international relations at the University of Melbourne and Distinguished Fellow of the Australia India Institute. Until 19 June 2018, he served as Advisor to the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, with the status of a Cabinet Minister. Amitabh Mattoo was the Vice Chancellor of the University of Jammu from 2002 to 2008 and the youngest Vice Chancellor of a public university, then, to be appointed to that position in the history of independent India.
Mushirul Hasan was a historian of modern India. He wrote on the partition of India, communalism, and on the history of Islam in South Asia.
Sikandar Ali Wajd (1914–1983) was a talented Urdu poet from Aurangabad, Maharashtra India. He had equal proficiency in composing gazals and poems.
M.P. Abdussamad Samadani is an Indian politician, orator, writer and scholar. He knows Malayalam, English, Urdu, Hindi, Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit languages. Samadani was awarded Doctor of Philosophy degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
Riyaz Punjabi was a professor and vice chancellor at the University of Kashmir. He was granted the Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian awards, in 2011. In 2008 he was granted an honorary professorship at the International University Vienna for his contribution in "Strengthening International Relations in the Sphere of Education". He also won the Amity Academic Excellence Award from Amity International Business School, in 2009, the Fazil Memorial Award in 2009, and the Adbi Markaz Kamraz award in 2010. He died on 8 April 2021.
Talat Ahmad is an Indian Earth Scientist, former Professor at the Department of Geology, University of Delhi and served as Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Senior Scientist. He served as Chairman of Governing body which oversees Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun from 1 December 2021 onwards and served the office till 30 November 2027. Previously, he commenced his second stint as Vice-Chancellor of University of Kashmir on 6 August 2018 and served the office till 20 May 2022. Before that, he served as Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, he resigned from the post a few months short of his full term. He was shortlisted by a committee constituted by the governor to shortlist a panel for the post. He had earlier taken over as Vice-Chancellor of University of Kashmir from Professor Riyaz Punjabi on 1 June 2011 and served there until the year 2014. Prior to this, he was teaching Geology at the University of Delhi.
Akhtarul Wasey is an Indian scholar and academician, who serves as the president of Maulana Azad University, in Jodhpur, India. He formerly served as professor of Islamic Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi, where he remains professor emeritus in the Department of Islamic Studies.
Masud Husain Khan was an Indian linguist, the first Professor Emeritus in Social Sciences at Aligarh Muslim University and the fifth Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, a Central University in New Delhi.
Professor Anvita Abbi is an Indian linguist and scholar of minority languages, known for her studies on tribal languages and other minority languages of South Asia. In 2013, she was honoured with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award by the Government of India for her contributions to the field of linguistics.
Asis Datta is an Indian biochemist, molecular biologist and genetic engineer, known for his research on genetically modified foods and food nutritional security. He was the founding Director of the National Institute of Plant Genome Research and is credited with the discovery of genes that assist in extended preservation of fruits and vegetables. He is a recipient of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award, the highest Indian award and in the Science category, and was awarded the fourth highest civilian award of the Padma Shri, by the Government of India, in 1999. In 2008, he was included again in the Republic Day Honours list for the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan.
Syeda Saiyidain Hameed is an Indian social and women's rights activist, educationist, writer and a former member of the Planning Commission of India. She is the president of the National Federation of Indian Women and the founder trustee of the Women's Initiative for Peace in South Asia (WIPSA) and the Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation. She was a member of the National Commission for Women (1997–2000). Hameed received Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour in 2007, for her contributions to Indian society.
Sudhir Kumar Sopory is an Indian educationist, plant physiologist, scientist and former vice chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He is known to be the first to purify a protein kinase C activity from plants and is credited with the identification of topoisomerase as a substrate of protein kinase C. He is an elected Fellow of several major Indian science academies and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and is a recipient of many honours, including the 1987 Shanti Swarup Bhatangar Prize, the highest Indian award in the science and technology categories. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2007, for his contributions to science and technology.
Namvar Singh was an Indian literary critic, linguist, academician and theoretician. He received his doctorate degree from Banaras Hindu University where he also taught for some time. He served as a professor of Hindi literature in several other universities. He was the founder and first chairman of Jawaharlal Nehru University's Centre of Indian Languages and continued to remain as a professor emeritus after his retirement in 1992.
Sonajharia Minz is an academic, trained in mathematics and computer science. She was vice-chancellor of Sido Kanhu Murmu University.
Rattan Lal Hangloo is an Indian historian and academic. He is formerly a professor and the head of the history department at the University of Hyderabad. He served as vice-chancellor of the University of Allahabad and University of Kalyani. Born to a Kashmiri Pandit family in Kashmir, Hangloo completed his postgraduate studies at the University of Kashmir in Srinagar and the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. After completing his post-doctoral studies, he worked at the University of Kashmir, the North Eastern Hill University, the University of Hyderabad, and the Central University of Punjab. He also served as a teaching faculty in several other universities outside India. Presently, he is an Honorary Vice Chancellor at Noble International University. He has written a number of books on history and provided his expertise on topics such as the nature of the state, agrarian economy, society and technology, political conflict, and the material culture of Kashmir and other Himalayan communities.
Mazhar Asif is an Indian academic administrator and scholar, with a focus on Indian mediaeval history and Sufism. He has been serving as the vice-chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia since 24 October 2024. An alumnus of Jawaharlal Nehru University, he has formerly served as a professor at his alma mater, and as a member of the drafting committee for National Education Policy 2020.
