Mumbai lad named NY Univ provost

Mumbai-born cultural anthropologist Arjun Appadurai has been named Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at New York's New School University, effective January 1, 2004.

'I am delighted to announce that Mr Appadurai has accepted my offer of the position of Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at New School University,' said New School University President Bob Kerrey . 'Mr  Appadurai is an accomplished and well-known scholar, who is highly-regarded in the fields of International Affairs, Anthropology, Sociology, and Political Science.'

'In my meetings and conversations with him over the course of several weeks, I have been impressed again and again by his many strengths, including his extraordinary intelligence, his breadth of experience and knowledge of higher education, his strong capacity for effective and inspired leadership, his creativity and clarity in problem-solving, and his gracious and collegial approach to people and issues.

'We are very fortunate to have him join us at the University. I look forward to welcoming him to this pivotal leadership position as a member of my senior management team,' he said. 

In reply, Appadurai said, 'New School University brings together a remarkable set of interdisciplinary faculty and academic values bridging philosophy, social theory, design, the performing arts and media. I am delighted to be able to join Bob Kerrey in leading an extraordinary university, in the world's most vibrant city, as it brings its mission to a globalizing world.' 

Appadurai was educated at the University of Bombay (Intermediate Arts), Brandeis University (BA), and the University of Chicago (MA and PhD in Social Thought). He has had extensive teaching and research experience, most recently as the William K Lanman, Jr Professor of International Studies at Yale University, where he also is the Director and Chair of the Center on Cities and Globalization.

He has also served as  the Samuel N Harper Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago, where he was also the Director of the Globalization Project and as Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania.

He has been a distinguished lecturer at many academic conferences in Europe, India and the United States. He has conducted extensive fieldwork in India, South Africa, and the Philippines and is the author or editor of nine books (three more are in preparation) and more than 80 scholarly articles. In addition to English, he is fluent in French, Hindi, Marathi, and Tamil. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and serves on the boards of many scholarly bodies.