Profile
Dr. Govindasamy Viswanathan (GV) is the Founder and Chancellor of Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT). He has 40 years of experience in the field of Educational Administration.
He was born on 14 June 1940 in a remote village in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. GV served as a Member of Parliament (1967-77) and as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu (1980-84 & 1991-96). He was the Minister for Food, Co-operation and Dairy Development, Govt. of Tamil Nadu (1991-93).
Dr. Viswanathan excelled in academics since his school days in Nellorepet Municipal High School, Gudiyatham, Tamilanadu and obtained bachelor’s (1959) and master’s degree in Economics from Loyola College, Chennai (1961), and completed Law from Madras University (1963). He completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in 2003. He was conferred an honorary doctorate by the West Virginia University, USA (2009) in recognition of his exemplary contributions to the fields of politics, education and societal development. He was also conferred one more Honorary Doctorate from The State University of New York, Binghamton University, USA (May 2024) for his exceptional contributions to education and social causes.
Dr. G. Viswanathan was awarded the Doctor of Literature (D.Litt., Honoris Causa) by the prestigious St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata on 15th February 2025. The honour was bestowed upon him in recognition of his outstanding contributions to education, leadership, public service, and humanitarian efforts. This is the first time that an Indian university has conferred an honorary doctorate upon him. He is the recipient of several national and international awards.
Sensing the need for providing quality education in the backward district of Vellore, which did not have an engineering college, he established the first engineering college in the district, the Vellore Engineering College, in 1984. Owing to its excellent standards, the engineering college evolved into a University in 2001. Today, it is one of the finest institutions, catering to the academic needs of about 1 lakh students in four campuses-Vellore, Chennai, Bhopal (MP) and Amaravati (AP). VIT is a thriving, multi-cultural institution with students from all the states of India and from 70 countries. The institution offers graduate, post-graduate and research degrees in engineering, management studies, law, sciences and humanities. VIT has been ranked the 10th best university, the 13th best in research and the 11th best engineering institution of India in the 2024 NIRF Ranking, published by the Ministry of Education, Govt. of India. Engineering & Technology subject areas of VIT are ranked 142 in the world as per the QS World University Ranking by Subject 2025. The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) accredited VIT with the highest grade, A++, in 2021.
76 Professors of VIT have been identified among the Top 2% Scientists in the world, according to the study conducted by Stanford University, USA. VIT is the leader among private universities in Scopus indexed publications, which reinforces the quality of research conducted in the University.
VIT has been identified as an Institution of Eminence by the Government of India. This is a remarkable achievement for a four-decade young institution, considering that only 10 public and 10 private institutions from the thousands of higher education institutions in the country have been bestowed this recognition.
VIT’s academic agreements with 559 universities worldwide for faculty and student exchange have helped VIT emerge as a truly international institution. VIT’s impressive track record of placements ensures that almost every student that graduates is recruited by leading national and multi-national companies.
Dr. Viswanathan is the past President of Education Promotion Society for India (EPSI), an organization that aims to support aspirants of education in almost every field. It is an umbrella organization of over 500 private institutions.
Dr. Viswanathan’s passion for serving the society has paved the way for activities that foster a lifelong commitment to community service through various useful projects and programmes. The Centre for Sustainable Rural Development and Research Studies, Skill Development Programmes, Support the Advancement of Rural Students (STARS), G.V.School Development Programme GVSDP are some of the prominent societal initiatives established by him. Each of these initiatives continues to positively impact the socioeconomic conditions of the beneficiaries. Under STARS, rank holders from rural Government schools in Tamil Nadu are provided with free education, free boarding and lodging. So far, 1014 students have been benefitted from this initiative, to the tune of Rupees 90 crores. In 2012, Dr. G. Viswanathan established the Universal Higher Education Trust (UHET) to help the underprivileged students of Vellore, Tirupathur, Ranipet and Tiruvannamalai Districts to pursue higher education in by supporting them financially. As many as 9878 underprivileged students have been benefitted under UHET so far, to the tune of Rupees 12 crores.