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Prof. J Mahender Reddy: An Educational Leader Transforming the Accountability- Driven Educational Culture to a Research-Driven One

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Prof. J Mahender Reddy,Vice Chancellor

Prof. J Mahender Reddy

Vice Chancellor

We are living in the 21st century with a mid-20th century higher education architecture lingering across the country. Undeniably, meaningfully impacting the ethos of our higher education system takes intense desire, knowledge, and proactive insights to transform the prevailing accountability-driven culture to a research-driven one. Spurring this revolution to lift the constraints on research capacity and innovation is Prof. J Mahender Reddy, Vice Chancellor, ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education (IFHE), which is a Deemed-to-be University under Section-3 of the UGC Act, located in Hyderabad. An educational leader of prodigious academic qualifications, Prof. Reddy has significantly contributed to develop an exemplary research-culture and good leadership paradigm to the tune of enabling IFHE to secure ‘A’ Grade from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).

This educational leader’s wisdom traces back to sheer academic excellence and career proficiency. Post attaining a Master’s degree from the Delhi School of Economics with distinction, Prof. Reddy pursued his education in Canada, achieving his Doctorate in Economics from the University of Alberta in Edmonton. A Fellow of the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute at Carleton University in Canada and a Fulbright Fellow of the University of Boston, Prof. Reddy went on to become the first Chair in the Indian Ocean Studies (of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation) located at the University of Mauritius. His acclaimed teaching career in the North America spanned across the University of Alberta and Saint Peter’s College in the U.S.

Thanks to Prof. Reddy’s desire to meaningfully disrupt the culture of higher education in India, which brought him back to the subcontinent after significantly contributing towards the North American higher education system. He resumed his teaching career in the Administrative Staff College of India, and subsequently taught in the Osmania University for over three decades, winning the ‘Best Teacher’ award from the Government of Andhra Pradesh.
Planting the Seeds of Research-based Culture
Under the aegis of Prof. Reddy, IFHE today produces cutting-edge research, brings innovation into program design, and adopts novel technologies for academic delivery. The University is also known for its case-based learning, in-house case development, and a unique & rigorous PhD Program. A strong testament to this fact is ICFAI Business School’s (IBS) position as the third largest Case Developer in the world after Harvard and INSEAD! Currently, the cases from IBS are used by 870 business schools in 75 countries.

The credit of this achievement goes to its innovative & pragmatic curriculum that simultaneously matches industry requirements & stakeholder expectations. Creating value through innovation being in its DNA, the University’s curriculum content is subject to periodic review and revision, keeping the changing market scenario in the backdrop. Rich inputs from recruiters, alumni, and industry are regularly collected in order to enrich the content and make it industry relevant. The whole exercise is projected towards striking a fine balance between theory & practice, while preparing the students for a competitive business environment.

“The content of our curriculum is interdisciplinary in nature and is well-structured to meet the changing needs of a dynamic marketplace in terms of employable skills, contemporary knowledge, and ethical behavior,” adjoins Prof. Reddy. This insightful approach accounts for the inclusion of several exceptional skill-development courses ranging from Soft Skills to Business Communications, Lawyering Skills, Etiquettes, and Personality Development, which make students industry-ready & entrepreneurship-savvy. Furthermore, the University’s programs propel every student to be fully conversant with the latest analytical & software tools that help in presenting figures and documenting & analyzing facts in a professional manner. It helps in imbibing the research-culture and has increasingly resulted in students’ participation in international case competitions.

The Strong Guidance
The guidance of Prof. Reddy, who over the years has published 40 research papers and 10 books in the areas of foreign trade & investment, business & economic forecasting, and applied economics, encourages not only students, but also faculty to engage themselves in researches. The research strategy of IFHE, however, is dovetailed to meet the requirements of its mission, which
inspires faculty members to come forward with high-quality intellectual contributions that benefit the students, as well as the University. The University assigns a premium value to intel-lectual capital and, to this end, faculty promotions & reward policies are linked to research output, apart from teaching performance.

The Mission
It is an alarming fact that India has a low level of PhD enrolment. But Prof. Reddy’s mission predominantly revolves around drastically improving this situation. Till date, he has guided 14 PhDs and nine M.Phil scholars in Osmania and ICFAI Universities, while also being the External Examiner for evaluation of doctoral dissertations in several states and central Indian Universities. “Our mission is ‘Learning for Leadership’. We aim at developing a cadre of professionals possessing specialized skills, and having a sense of social & moral responsibility and the ability to address problems from a broader perspective. This thought process powers our vision to emerge as an institution of excellence – known for research, teaching & practice,” concludes Prof. Reddy.

Key Management:
Prof. J Mahender Reddy, Vice Chancellor, ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education
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Boasting of his exceptional qualifications, Prof. Reddy was a member of the High Level Committees appointed by the UGC, ICSSR, the Government of Andhra Pradesh, and the Government of India, Association of Management Development Institutions in South Asia (AMDISA), and ICFAI. He was also a member of the FICCI Higher Education Committee, as well as the Governing Council of the Association of Indian Universities (2015-17) located in New Delhi.

Programs:
B.Tech , B.Arch, B.Sc (Mathematics), B.Sc (Physics), M.Tech, Ph.D (Full Time)
BBA, BA (Economics), MBA, Executive MBA (Part Time), Ph.D (Full Time & Part Time)
BBA-LLB (Hons.), BA-LLB (Hons.) LLM, Ph.D (Full Time & Part Time) and good leadership paradigm to the tune of enabling IFHE to secure ‘A’ Grade from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).