Koneru Ramakrishna Rao: Chancellor of AP’s GITAM University

Founder-president of GITAM University MVVS Murthi appointed Koneru Ramakrishna Rao in his place, as the Chancellor of GITAM University, Andhra Pradesh. It is for the first time that a deemed university has a person other than its founder as its Chancellor.

Prof. Ramakrishna Rao, Renowned educationist, who received Padma Shri award last year, is Chairman of the Indian Council of Philosophical Research. He is a celebrated philosopher, psychologist, parapsychologist, educationist, teacher, researcher and administrator. He was graduated from Andhra University, Waltair, India.

He served as a lecturer in the Departments of Philosophy and Psychology at Andhra University from 1953-58 under the tutelage of professors Saileswar Sen and Satchidananda Murthy . He left India in 1958 to went to United States(US) as a Fulbright scholar. His stay at the University of Chicago was extended a year with a Rockefeller Fellowship with Richard McKeon at the University of Chicago and received Ph.D. and D.Litt. degrees. After returning from US, he moved on to North Carolina to work with J. B. Rhine at the Parapsychology Laboratory at Duke University, North Carolina and later headed his famous Foundation for Research on the Nature of Man as its Executive Director.

He rejoined Andhra University in the mid-1960s and in 1967 established the Department of Parapsychology, the only such university department of its kind in the world. Apart from the above achievements, he has also held the posts of Advisor to the State Government on Higher Education, Chairman of AP State Commissionerate of Higher Education, and Vice-Chairman of the AP State Planning Board.Rao has chaired many State and National-level committees on higher education, governance of universities, rural university, professional studies institute, and reforms in school education. He has 200 research papers to his credit and had authored 12 books.