Law Kumar Mishra
Patna, April 7
Dr Manoj Soni has been appointed as the Chairman of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), India’s premier recruitment panel.
A resident of Anand in Gujarat, 57-year-old Dr Soni is currently a Member of the UPSC. Prior to this assignment, Dr. Soni has served three terms as Vice-Chancellor.
These include two consecutive terms as Vice-Chancellor of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University (BAOU) from 01 August 2009 through 31 July 2015, and one term as Vice-Chancellor of The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda (The MSU of Baroda) from April 2005 to April 2008. At the time of his joining the MSU of Baroda, Dr. Soni was the youngest ever Vice-Chancellor in India and the MSU.
A scholar of Political Science with specialisation in International Relations Studies, Dr. Soni has taught International Relations at Sardar Patel University (SPU), Vallabh Vidyanagar between 1991 and 2016, except for the period when he served as Vice-Chancellor of the two universities. Dr. Soni’s doctoral research is on the “Post-Cold War International Systemic Transition and Indo-U.S.Relations”. This is one of the earliest and one-of-its-kind studies during 1992 and 1995positioned as Vice Chancellor of MS University.