With Her Sights Set On Newer Heights

Chancellor of Sathyabama University DR MARIAZEENA JOHNSON is taking the legacy of the 35-year-old institution forward with her visionary ideas and earnest dedication to empowering students and women.

- Kalwyna Rathod

Dr Mariazeena Johnson is everything you'd expect a leader to be - a relentless champion for excellence in the field of education, a social reformer working towards the upliftment of the underprivileged, and a feminist motivating women to achieve greater heights through women's empowerment programmes. As chancellor of Chennai's Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology (deemed to be university), one of India's premier academic and research universities that offers multi-disciplinary academic programmes in various fields, she is taking the brand name to greater heights with her expertise.

Edited excerpts from an interview:

What is it like to be the chancellor of a university that is working hard towards excellence in research and academics?

It is a huge responsibility to be the chancellor of an institute with a legacy of 35 years. I do revisit my plans often to clarify the path of realising our vision and to drive the workforce of the institution towards consistently arriving at remarkable milestones and achievements. Providing leadership to an institution of this scale is definitely a significant challenge, and I'm glad I'm able to steer its development at the needed pace.

I'm often awestruck by the responses of the young aspiring minds of our institution; their questions make me delve into thoughts about revamping our mission strategies.

I like to deliberate over them in our boardroom discussions, considering the possibilities of providing definite solutions for new generation expectations in producing skilled manpower for societal needs.