Vice-Chancellor

Professor Basuthkar Jagadeeshwar Rao, former Vice-chancellor at Univ. of Hyderabad served as Senior Professor, Chair of Biology, Dean-Faculty, at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, and was associated with Biology Department at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai for about 24 years and served as Senior Professor and Chair of the Biology programme before moving on to IISER- Tirupati in 2018. He is a National Science Talent Awardee (1 st in AP, 16 th rank in India), received his PhD from Indian Institute of Science (Bengaluru) and worked as a Research Scientist at Yale University Medical school (USA) before joining TIFR, Mumbai.

Prof. Rao is a Fellow of all three National Academies of India, Sir JC Bose awardee from the Department of Science & Technology. He has made fundamental contributions in the areas of Genome Biology & Cellular regulations & adaptations where he published about 160 peer reviewed international publications with high citations and impact. His publications range from experimental to theoretical Biology to Chemistry and Physics.

He has been honoured by the Governor of Telangana on the ‘State Formation Day and Telangana Samsskruthika Sambaralu’ as part of ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ Programme celebration for contribution towards State’s remarkable progress on June 2, 2025.

He has chaired and been a member of several National and International committees on various policy matters related to Science, Technology and Education. Prof. Rao has been a Member, High-Level Committee constituted by the Ministry of Education to ensure smooth conduct of examinations through National Testing Agency (NTA); Member, High-Level Committee constituted by the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India to celebrate the 200 th Birth Anniversary of Maharishi Swami Dayanand Saraswati; Chairperson, UGC Expert Committee to frame norms for HEIs to enrol Foreign students; Chairman, UGC draft Regulations to ensure (Minimum standards of Instruction for the Grant of the First Degree and Master’s Degree through Formal Education) Regulations, 2003 in line with NEP recommendation for “Restructured degree programmes’’ nominated by the UGC as Nodal Officer for the Bharatiya Bhasha Samvardhan Samiti (Telugu) and he is on several Search-cum-Selection Committees for selections of Vice-Chancellors/Directors of Universities, CSIR Institutes, etc.

Teaching Philosophy & Public Engagement

A strong advocate of knowledge-centric, concept-oriented, interactive learning, Prof. Rao champions a "do-it-yourself" model of critical thinking. He has lectured extensively worldwide and served as a DST-INSPIRE teacher, bringing the excitement of modern biology to undergraduates across India. He views biology through a distinctive lens — as a dynamic manifestation of physics and chemistry, governed by underlying design principles.

Editorial Role

As Chief Editor of the Journal of Biosciences — the flagship publication of the Indian Academy of Sciences, published with Springer Nature — he has played a key role in elevating its academic impact. A lifelong educator at heart, reaching and kindling young minds remains Prof. Rao’s abiding passion.