Achuthsankar S. Nair appointed KSHEC vice-chairperson
Achuthsankar S. Nair, former Professor and Head of the Department of Bioinformatics at Kerala University, has been appointed the vice-chairperson of the Kerala State Higher
Achuthsankar S. Nair, former Professor and Head of the Department of Bioinformatics at Kerala University, has been appointed the vice-chairperson of the Kerala State Higher Education Council (KSHEC). He succeeds noted social scientist P.M. Rajan Gurukkal, who demitted office after the United Democratic Front (UDF) government came to power. A distinguished academic, administrator, researcher and cultural scholar, Dr. Nair brings decades of experience in higher education, technology and public service to the position.
He began his teaching career at Government Engineering College, Palakkad, and later served at Model Engineering College, Kochi, before joining the Department of Computer Science at Kerala University in 1995. He served as the Director of C-DIT between 2001 and 2004. He has held several key academic and administrative positions, including as the member of the Higher Education Council; Syndicate member of the Cochin University of Science and Technology; and Director of Internal Quality Assurance Cell, Director of International Academics, and Dean of the Faculty of Technology at Kerala University.
He has also served as a Visiting Professor at Seoul University, South Korea, and Daito Bunka University, Japan. Nair retired in 2024 after completing two decades as the founding head of the Department of Bioinformatics at Kerala University. A prolific researcher specialising in Artificial Intelligence and Bioinformatics, he has supervised around 30 PhD theses and authored over 25 books. He is a recipient of several prestigious honours, including the Government of Kerala’s Young Scientist Award, the Indian Science Academy’s (INSA) inaugural Teacher Award, the Vakkom Moulavi Foundation’s Award for Social Work and Kerala University’s Excellence Award.
He holds the rare distinction of having earned two doctoral degrees from Kerala University – one in Engineering and another in Music.
The BriefWire