Nobel laureate Stanley to attend VIT-AP convocation tomorrow

Amaravati: Vice-chancellor of VIT-AP University S V Kota Reddy announced here on Tuesday that Nobel laureate M Stanley Whittingham of USA-based Binghamton University would be the chief guest in the virtual convocation of VIT-AP to be held here on Thursday.

Addressing the media, the vice-chancellor, along with registrar Dr C L V Sivakumar, said that director of Microsoft India Mayurika Singh would be the guest of honour. The convocation is being held virtually due to the pandemic situation prevailing in the country.

Referring to the placement drive conducted by the university, the vice-chancellor said that out of the 460 students, graduating from the university this year, around 90 per cent secured placements. The rest of the students did not opt for campus recruitment since some are going for higher studies or going to take over the family business or want to launch their own ventures and other reasons.

In view of the Covid conditions, the university introduced Covid scholarships for the senior students who lost their sole earning family member by waiving the tuition fee and hostel fee. The V-C said that 30 senior students benefited under this scheme. The university also introduced merit scholarships for the students who secured more than 80 percent marks.

The vice-chancellor said that Stanley Whittingham would virtually inaugurate the four new buildings, Mahatma Gandhi Academic Block, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy Block for boys' hostel, Savitribai Phule Block for girls' hostel and Rock Plaza, which provide extracurricular activities for the students.

The vice-chancellor expressed satisfaction over the performance of the university in a short span of four years under the visionary leadership of Founder- Chancellor Dr G Viwanathan.