On behalf of the Society for the Advancement of Library and Information Science, I congratulate and wish Prof. V.G. Talwar for his new appointment as V.C of Mysore University. This is happy news to all the LIS professionals in our country. SOurce: http://www.starofmysore.com/main.asp?type=news&item=18951 DR. TALWAR TAKES OVER AS VC OF MYSORE VARSITY Mysore, Dec. 11 (ACP & DM)- The newly-appointed Vice-Chancellor of Mysore University Prof. V.G. Talwar took charge today. Acting Vice-Chancellor Dr. C.P. Siddhashrama handed over charge to Prof. Talwar at the Crawford Hall. Admirers of Prof. Talwar burst crackers outside the Craw-ford Hall as he took charge. The Governor-Chancellor Rameshwar Thakur yesterday issued an order appointing Prof. V.G. Talwar, Professor of Library and Information Science, Mysore University, as new Vice-Chancellor. The post was vacant following the retirement of Prof. J. Shashidhara Prasad on Oct. 22 last year and many hurdles came in the way of appointing a new Vice-Chancellor. V.G. Talwar: A man of wide experience At last, it has happened after a prolonged wait for more than a year! The news is that Dr. V.G.Talwar, Professor of Library and Information Science, University of Mysore, has been appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mysore. The academic and administrative profile of the man who is going to head, lead and manage the affairs of the University of Mysore for the next four years is proof enough to indicate what the new Vice-Chancellor is capable of. Humility and down to earth temperament endowed with practical wisdom are the hallmarks of the personality of the new Vice-Chancellor. All those who know him personally would agree with one voice that it is indeed a great gesture that a man of simplicity and self-effacement committed to quality-oriented higher education has been elevated to the post of a Vice-Chancellor of a prestigious University struggling at the moment to keep up its reputation. He has an uphill task in setting right certain irregularities committed in the recent past. Harnessing pulls and pressures of different sorts would be one of the real challenges awaiting him as he takes up his new assignment. Looking for and having right people as part of his team management could go a long and effective way in meeting the challenges ahead of him. Having been an insider for many years could be a great aid. A man with a heart of wisdom derived from vast and wide experience as teacher and administrator, Prof.Talwar, known as VGT in the shortened version of his name, is a well-known name in the academic and administrative circle within and outside the University of Mysore. There is no department that he is not familiar with. He is aware of the ins and outs of almost all the Sections at Crawford Hall by virtue of having served as Registrar of the University for four years and four months and being a Chairman or a member of one committee or the other till date. Prof.Talwar is also known for his outreaching sensitivity. His friendly and helpful nature could be a great source of strength and problems as well. A fine sense of a compassionate worldview, thanks to his humble origin and family background, pervades his reasoning and discernments. Free from coterie culture, kitchen cabinet, and mean and mud-slinging politicking, he has the art of cultivating the spirit of accommodativeness lest ego clashes and ghetto interests and conflicts should overpower the management of academic and administrative matters of the University. As an aspirant for the post, he has shared his vision for the development of the University of Mysore with some of his friends besides formulating the same in a more organised manner in his profile documentation made available to the search committee that selected him as one of the three persons recommended for the post. If only politics and interventions of people with vested interests do not bother him too much, we could count on his intellectual acumen, dialogic imagination, team-building spirit, practical wisdom for smooth management of the University that has been blessed with a special grant of one hundred crore by the Government of India besides the other usual budget already made available by the State Government and the budget to be generated from local resources. — A.S. Dasan, University of Mysore Bio-data • Born on 1st June, 1950; Son of a farmer, hailing from Jikanur village in Belgaum District. • Pursued higher education in Bangalore University and passed out with a Gold Medal in 1978; started his career in Bharat Electronics Ltd. Bangalore ( 10 + years), served Mangalore University for 6 + years before joining the University of Mysore where he has been for the last 17 years; • Important positions held in the University of Mysore: Director of UGC – Academic Staff College ( 4 + years); Registrar of the University ( 4 + years); • Experience in Research Guidance: has successfully guided 13 students till date for PhD; • Publications: 10 books one of which is Legacy of learning (2002), a comprehensive and significant reference book on the history of development of the University of Mysore with a vision for its future, 46 monographs, and 50 articles; • Has been recognised and honoured by the Govt. of Karnataka for his meritorious services in the field of higher education, especially in the field of library science and digital libraries. A.Hariharan Society for the Advancement of Library and Information Science SALIS -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.