BITS Pilani, a leading institution renowned for its emphasis on innovation and academic excellence, has announced the appointment of Prof. Souri Banerjee as the new Director of its Dubai campus. Prof. Banerjee assumed his role in August 2024 and will serve a five-year term. He succeeds Prof. Srinivasan Madapusi, who has led the Dubai campus since July 2021.
Prof. Banerjee has a long and distinguished history with BITS Pilani. His journey with the institution began in 2004 at the Pilani campus. In 2008, he became the founding Department Head of Physics at the Hyderabad campus. Over the years, he has held several key positions, including Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs in 2013 and later, Dean of Faculty Affairs in 2018, overseeing faculty-related activities across all BITS Pilani campuses.
In addition to his contributions at BITS Pilani, Prof. Banerjee has an impressive academic and research background. He has held postdoctoral positions at the University of Electro-Communications and the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan and served as a Visiting Professor at the University of Electro-Communications. He also worked as a Research Scientist at the Central Research Laboratory, HITACHI, Tokyo. His research contributions in device physics have been recognized with the prestigious JSPS Foreign Research Fellow award twice, in 2012 and 2018.
Welcoming Prof. Banerjee, BITS Pilani Vice Chancellor Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao said, "We are pleased to have Prof. Souri Banerjee on board and wish him all success in his new assignment. His leadership and expertise will be instrumental in further enhancing our academic programs and research initiatives".
Prof. Rao also expressed gratitude to Prof. Madapusi for his successful tenure, stating, "Under Prof. Madapusi’s dynamic leadership, the Dubai campus achieved significant milestones, taking BITS Pilani to greater heights".
Prof. Souri Banerjee holds a Ph.D. in Condensed Matter Physics from the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkata, which he completed in 1997.
