Amitabh Mattoo

Professor Amitabh Mattoo, born in Srinagar on 26 June 1962, is one of India's leading thinkers and writers on international relations. He is currently a Professor of International Politics at New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University and a Member of the National Knowledge Commission, a high-level advisory group to the Prime Minister of India. Professor Mattoo is also President-designate of the Indian Association of International Studies. From November 2002 until early December 2008, Amitabh Mattoo was also the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Jammu. Amitabh Mattoo was the youngest person ever to serve on this position.

Professor Mattoo serves on the Governing council of Pugwash, the Nobel prize winning NGO and is a Director of the India-Afghanistan Foundation (established by the governments of India and Afghanistan). Professor Mattoo was, till recently, a member of India's National Security Council's Advisory Board and was also a member of the task force constituted by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Global Strategic Developments. The Task Force examined various aspects of global trends in strategic affairs and their implications for India.

Early life and education

Amitabh Mattoo had his early education in Burn Hall School, Srinagar and the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He earned a D. Phil in International Relations from the University of Oxford, United Kingdom. Earlier, he had been selected for the Indian Police Service through the civil services examination of 1987, but preferred a career in academics.

Career

He has been visiting Professor at Stanford University, USA, the University of Notre Dame and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has been Chairperson of the Centre for International Politics, Organization and Disarmament at Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Mattoo is one of the few Indian academics in the field of international relations who has actually had an impact on foreign and domestic policy: nuclear policy, India-US relations, India -Pakistan ties and Kashmir are a few of the fields in which Mattoo's contribution will be recognised. Professor Mattoo's books on India's nuclear policy, India-Pakistan relations and writings on Kashmir are seen as breaking new ground. Mattoo has published ten books, more than 100 research articles (including in leading journals like Survival and Asian Survey). He writes regularly for Indian newspapers, including The Telegraph and The Hindu and is a much sought after commentator on television.

Professor Mattoo became the youngest Vice-Chancellor of the University of Jammu in November 2002 and continued in this position until December 2008. The University of Jammu under Mattoo emerged as a centre of academic and extracurricular excellence. Mattoo’s leadership gave the University a new profile with the institution entering into academic collaboration with a host of top international institutions. The quality of research and teaching has improved tremendously and increasingly academicians from the University of Jammu were being called to articulate the Indian perspectives on various issues in prestigious institutions in India and abroad.

As Vice-chancellor of the University of Jammu, Mattoo has emphasised the importance of infrastructure ensuring that the University of Jammu today competes with the best institutions of higher education, nationally and internationally making it a rarity among India's regional universities most of which are in poor shape academically and infrastructurally. The emphasis on infrastructure is the outcome of his stated conviction that the creation and dissemination of knowledge in a knowledge society cannot not take place in a technology and infrastructure deficient environment and that an institution devoted to knowledge creation and dissemination has to engage actively with the world outside with all tools at its disposal.

During his tenure. the University of Jammu took the innovative decision to spread itself geographically to cover all parts of Jammu region by establishing campuses in various parts of Jammu like Bhaderwah, Kathua, Poonch with satellite campuses in Surankote, Reasi and Patnitop. The emphasis in these centres is on programmes like Business Management and IT with an aim to supply skilled manpower to a skill hungry Corporate India as also to ensure that world class technical education is brought to the doorsteps of deserving students from remote parts of the state enabling them to participate in in India's growing knowledge economy.

As a patron of the arts, Mattoo was responsible for building a magnificent world-class auditorium in Jammu university, which also hosts an art gallery and a museum. Leading artists of India, including Jogen Chaudhary, have donated their work to the gallery. As President of the J&K chapter of SPIC-Macay, Mattoo was responsible for the University becoming a centre of culture.

Mattoo's attempts at conflict resolution and peace building(combining theory with practice) have been publicly acclaimed. He was a member of the three-man committee, appointed by the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir in 2008, which successfully negotiated the controversial Amarnath land transfer row, which had led to huge uprisings in Jammu and Kashmir.

Awards

Recognizing his contribution to education, the President of India honoured Professor Mattoo on the occasion of the Republic Day (2008) with the Padma Shri the first time a Vice-chancellor in Jammu and Kashmir has been so honoured.

He was nominated Shehjar""Kashmiri Person of the Year-2008" The Kashmiri Person of the Year is selected by Shehjar Editorial Board and given to a Kashmiri in recognition of considerable achievements towards the improvement and well being of others and/or for earning a good name and favorable recognition for him/herself and the Kashmiri people. The award carries a Plaque of Honor and a Certificate.

Professor Amitabh Mattoo was awarded the Qimpro Platinum Standard Award (2008)and was recognised as a National Statesman for his work in the field of education along with Mr Anand Mahindra who was awarded for his leadership in business.