Northern Kentucky University to be led by Indian-American president

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An Indian-American who graduated from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, has been selected to head the Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights, Kentucky.

Ashish Vaidya, currently serving as the interim president of St. Cloud State University, in Minneapolis, one of the largest public universities in Minnesota, has been appointed president of NKU, which has more than 11,000 students enrolled in its six colleges and one school. Vaidya becomes the sixth president of Northern Kentucky University and begins in his new position July 1 next year.

Vaidya was unanimously elected by the university’s Board of Regents on Nov. 9, according to a press release from NKU.

“The momentum at NKU right now is truly amazing. It’s what first caught my attention, and I continue to be impressed the more people I meet. As I learned about the university, its history and its role in regional stewardship, it fits well with what I was looking for. I’m honored to serve as NKU’s sixth president and looking forward to the adventure that lies ahead,” Vaidya is quoted saying in the press release.

At St. Cloud, Vaidya also held the positions of provost and vice president for academic affairs since 2015.

Prior to that he served as the provost and vice president for academic affairs as well as a special advisor to the president for regional economic development at California State University in Los Angeles.

From 2005 to 2010, Vaidya was the dean of the faculty at California State University Channel Islands where he was also the MBA director for two years prior to that and was the founding director of the Center for International Affairs from 2004 to 2006.

Vaidya holds both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai, as well as a master’s degree and a doctorate from University of California in Davis.

Vaidya is married to Nita Vaidya, a sociologist and they have two children; Jaanhvi, a technology consulting analyst with Accenture, and Avaneesh, a student at the University of Arizona.