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Nishan Canagarajah

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British Tamil academic

ProfessorNishan Canagarajah
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leicester
Incumbent
Assumed office
November 2019
Preceded byPaul Boyle
Personal details
BornCedric Nishan Canagarajah
1966 (age 57–58)
Sri Lanka
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge
Salary£254,000 (2021–22)

Cedric Nishan Canagarajah (born 1966) is a British Tamil academic and the current president and vice-chancellor of the University of Leicester. He was previously one of the pro-vice-chancellors of the University of Bristol.

Early life and family

Canagarajah was born in 1966 in Sri Lanka. His mother was a teacher. He was educated at St. John's College, Jaffna. After school he joined the University of Cambridge from where he received a BA honours degree in electronics and information sciences in 1989 and a Ph.D. in digital signal processing in 1993.

Canagarajah is married to Thabitha. They have a daughter and two sons.

Career

Canagarajah joined the University of Bristol in 1993 as a research assistant. He was promoted to lecturer in 1994, senior lecturer in 1999 and reader in 2001. He became professor of multimedia signal processing in 2004. He was promoted to research director at the university's Faculty of Engineering in 2006 and head of Department of Computer Science in 2009. He became head of Merchant Venturers School of Engineering in 2010 before becoming dean of the Faculty of Engineering in 2011. He was appointed pro-vice-chancellor for research and enterprise in August 2014. In August 2019 it was announced that he would become president and vice-chancellor of the University of Leicester in November 2019.

Canagarajah's research contributions in image segmentation and texture classification are internationally recognized and his research on audio signal processing led to an interactive exhibit, Virtual Drum, at the London Science Museum. He has led a number of successful international research partnerships and is currently theme leader for the joint £5M EPSRC/DST collaborative programme on next generation telecommunications systems and services, which includes a number of UK and Indian universities and industrial partners.

Canagarajah has served on a number of national and international panels on research funding, governance and postgraduate education. He acted as a technical consultant for several industrial partners including Sony, BT, BBC, Orange, Thales, Toshiba and the Metropolitan Police Service. He is part of the Universities UK advisory group to tackle racial harassment in higher education.

In January 2021, members of the Leicester University and College Union voted overwhelmingly in support of a motion of no confidence against Canagarajah, in response to a proposed mass lay-off of faculty members. In March 2021, students at Leicester also approved a vote of no confidence against Canagarajah, with 1010 votes for the proposal and only 82 opposed.

References

  1. "Annual report and accounts 2021-22". University of Leicester. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  2. "Senior staff". University of Leicester. Archived from the original on 25 December 2014.
  3. "Senior staff". University of Bristol. Archived from the original on 25 December 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  4. ^ "Pro Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nishan Canagarajah". University of Bristol. Archived from the original on 25 December 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  5. ^ "Professor Nishan Canagarajah". Faculty of Engineering, University of Bristol. Archived from the original on 25 December 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  6. ^ "Speaking Personally" (PDF). LynchPin: 19. Spring 2009. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 December 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  7. "Professor Nishan Canagarajah's Appointment as Pro-Vice Chancellor of Bristol University". Tha Lifestyle. 1 (3): 1. March 2014. Archived from the original on 25 December 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  8. "University of Bristol appoints new Pro Vice-Chancellor". University of Bristol. 11 March 2014. Archived from the original on 25 December 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  9. "New Vice-Chancellor named". Leicester, U.K.: University of Leicester. 19 August 2019. Archived from the original on 25 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  10. Martin, Dan (20 August 2019). "University of Leicester appoints Nishan Canagarajah as new vice-chancellor". Leicester Mercury. Leicester, U.K. Archived from the original on 25 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  11. "Professor Nishan Canagarajah - University of Bristol". research-information.bris.ac.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  12. "UK-India research collaboration deepens - EPSRC website". epsrc.ukri.org. Archived from the original on 30 April 2024. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  13. "President and Vice-Chancellor | About | University of Leicester". le.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  14. "Digital institute gets £29m boost". BBC News. 10 July 2019. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  15. "Thales and Bristol University sign strategic agreement to collaborate in research and education activities". Thales Group. Archived from the original on 25 September 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  16. "University of Leicester experts appointed to prestigious panel on harassment". le.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 5 December 2022. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  17. Martin, Dan (26 January 2021). "UCU members 'overwhelmingly' back no-confidence motion in Leicester University vice-chancellor". Leicester Mercury. Archived from the original on 3 February 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  18. "Leicester students pass vote of no confidence in Vice-Chancellor". 22 March 2021. Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2024.

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