Prof. (Dr.) Jaspal Singh Sandhu

Vice Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.

Jaspal Singh Sandhu, Vice Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University, is the first Medical Doctor to be Vice Chancellor of Multi Specialty University in the State of Punjab. He did most of his schooling in Amritsar and did his graduation and Post Graduation in Medicine from Government Medical College, Amritsar. During his student period, he was the best boy graduate and University Gold Medalist, Subsequent to his interest in Sports he joined Post Graduation in Sports Medicine from Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, Patiala, where he again topped in the University. For his outstanding contribution to the field of Medicine and especially in Sports Medicine, he has honoured as Fellow of National Academy of Medical Sciences, International Federation of Sports Medicine (First Indian), Asian Federation of Sports Medicine, Association of Surgeons of India, Punjab Academy of Sciences etc. He has also been honoured by conferment of D.Sc. (Honoris Causa) by Avinashilingam Deemed to be University run by Government of India.

Beginning his career in Medical College Amritsar, he was instrumental in setting up of the first and the only Department of Sports Medicine in University System of India at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, where he introduced various novel courses like MD (Sports Medicine), Ph.D. (Sports Medicine), Masters in Sports Physical Therapy etc. for the first time in India. His contribution to research has been more than 200 publications out of which half are International Journals. He rose to the rank of Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Sports Medicine, where he additionally worked as Director, UGC Academic Staff College and Professor In-Charge, Department of Public Relations. He was subsequently selected for the coveted post of Secretary of University Grants Commission, first Punjabi to be in this position where he served for more than a period of three years which is probably the longest tenure in recent history in this august organization. 

During his tenure as Secretary, UGC, he was additionally Director of National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) for some period beside serving on the governing bodies of Consortium for Educational Communication (CEC), Inter University Accelerator Centre (IUAC), Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astro-Physics (IUCAA), Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET), UGC-DAE Consortium for Scientific Research etc., besides on being the Board of Governors of various Universities. He has memberships of more than a dozen professional associations and bodies besides being the peer reviewer and member editorial board of numerous international journals. He has been part of the Government of India Delegations to Norway, China, Iran and Maldives. He has been invited for invited lectures in more than two dozen countries like Oman, UAE, Iran, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Thailand etc.