Najma Akhtar

Najma Akhtar (born 1953) is an Indian academic and university administrator. She was the Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia. She was the first woman to hold this position at the university.

In 2022, she received the Padma Shri, an Indian civilian award, from the Government of India.

 Early life and education 
Akhtar studied at Aligarh Muslim University. She was a gold medalist and received a National Science Talent Scholarship. Akhtar earned a PhD in Education from Kurukshetra University. She later received a Commonwealth Fellowship to study university administration at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. 

 Career 
Akhtar worked for 15 years at the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration. There, she led training courses for senior officials from more than 130 countries. She helped set up the first state-level management institute in Allahabad. She also worked at Aligarh Muslim University as the Controller of Examinations and Director of Academic Programmes.

She has worked as a consultant for international organisations, including UNESCO, UNICEF, and DANIDA. In April 2019, the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, approved her appointment as Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia. She was appointed for a five-year term or until the age of 70, whichever came first. She served in this role until 12 November 2023.

 References 

Category:Living people
Category:Indian educators