Indian-origin academician becomes President of Tufts University in Massachusetts

Eminent Indian-American academician Sunil Kumar becomes the first person of colour to occupy the position of President of Tufts University in Massachusetts.

Sunil Kumar, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Johns Hopkins University, has been appointed as the president of Massachusetts-based Tufts University. The eminent Indian-American academician is the first person of colour to occupy the position.

He will succeed president Anthony Monaco as Tufts' 14th president on July 1, 2023, a statement from Tufts University said, as reported by Tribune India.

Chair of the Board of Trustees and chair of the presidential search committee Peter Dolan said Kumar brings to Tufts a "lifelong commitment to excellence in higher education and an exceptionally strong record as a leader, teacher, and colleague.”

In a video posted on the Tufts website, Kumar said he would not have achieved this position in life if it were not for the full financial support he received when he was a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.

"It would not have been possible for me as a son of a police officer to do anything else. And therefore, affordability is not a theoretical concept for me. I hope I represent an example of somebody who benefited from an institution opening its doors wide," he said.

“And I would like even more people to have the same opportunity,” he added.

"I was attracted to Tufts because of its mission to serve not only the people within its confines—its students, faculty, and staff—but society at large,” said Kumar.

Indian-born Kumar was previously dean of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

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