JNU to confer ‘Professor Emeritus’ title on Amitabh Mattoo

The Executive Council of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has decided to confer the title ‘Professor Emeritus’ on Amitabh Mattoo, Dean School of International Studies (SIS). He has sought voluntary retirement from the University.

Mr. Mattoo’s name was recommended by Rajesh Rajagopalan professor from SIS. After deliberations at the meeting, it was decided that title of ‘Professor Emeritus’ in JNU would be conferred effective after the date of his voluntary retirement on February 28, 2027.

Before being made Dean in 2024, Mr. Mattoo was Chair of the Centre for International Politics, Organisation and Disarmament at SIS. Also a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Jammu, he is the only Padma Shri awardee currently on the rolls of JNU.

Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Mattoo said that JNU has never been simply a place where he works but has been his intellectual home and the crucible of his ideas. “One may retire from a university’s service, but never from its embrace,” he said.

On being conferred the title, he expressed his gratitude to the university and said: “Over the years I have been fortunate in honours and in office. This one is different. It comes from an institution to which I have given a great deal of myself, and from which I have received far more.” He added that offices pass, titles fade but what remains is the affection of students, the regard of colleagues, the long companionship of ideas, and the quiet privilege of belonging.

JNU currently has 16 professors who have been conferred the title of ‘Professor Emeritus’ including Romilla Thapar, Asis Datta, Prabhat Patnaik, H.S Gill, and Zoya Hassan.

According to the guidelines or conferment of the title of ‘Professor Emeritus’ in JNU, those nominated should have made significant and distinctive contribution to the development of JNU as an institution, served JNU as Professor for at least 15 years, be a scholar of nationally and internationally recognized eminence and her/his contribution should have made a difference to the discipline and/or to the society.

The difference to the discipline/society could be judged in terms of formulation of new concepts/paradigms/hypotheses/innovations by peer group academics, nations and should be in evidence through publications and other form of research output, JNU’s guidelines say.