New Delhi: Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) Vice Chancellor Prof. Najma Akhtar will receive Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of the country from the Hon'ble President of India Shri Ramnath Kovind at a Ceremony to be held at the Darbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan on March 21, 2022. Government of India (GoI) selected her for the award for her invaluable contribution in the field of literature and education.

Prof. Akhtar has the distinction of being the first woman Vice-Chancellor of JMI-an institution accredited with A++ by National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC) in December, 2021. She is widely recognized as a leading educationist for having brought transformation in the delivery of quality education in premier educational institutions of the country.  

Born on November 13, 1953, Prof. Najma Akhtar received her Ph.D. in Education on the topic “A Comparative Study on Conventional & Distance Education System of Higher Education”. A gold medalist her Master's, she holds M.A. in Education and M.Sc. in Botany. 

She has worked as Professor and was the Head, Department of Training & Capacity Building in Education at National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), New Delhi.  She worked in the Distance Education Programme at IGNOU, New Delhi and was the Founder Director of the State Director of the State Institute of Educational Management and Training (SIEMAT) at erstwhile Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh.  She has also held the position of Director, Academic Programmes at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) besides the coveted position of Controller of Examinations and Admissions in AMU. 

Prof. Akhtar has been Visitor’s Nominee on Selection Committee and Executive Committee of Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU), Hyderabad, Delhi University, Assam University and JMI. She has been on the Management Committee of Delhi Public School, Member of Empowered Committee of Bihar State Madarsa Education Board, Member of High Level Expert Committee of the Ministry of Defence, Govt. of India., Member of National Steering Committee of the Ministry of Education, Govt. of India, Board of Management, Jamia Hamdard, Delhi Member of General Assembly of Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR), New Delhi, Member of National Academic Advisory Committee of the Indian Social Science Academy and Search Committee for appointment of new Vice-Chancellor of Kashmir University, Member of Experts Group on NEP – 2020, Speaker of Senate, IIT Delhi, Member of University Council Cluster University, Srinagar and Member of Governing Council, Association of Indian Universities.

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