24 Facts About Amitabh Mattoo

Amitabh Mattoo was awarded Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2009.

Amitabh Mattoo was the Vice Chancellor of the University of Jammu from 2002 to 2008 and the youngest Vice Chancellor of a public university, then, to be appointed to that position in the history of independent India.

Amitabh Mattoo was the founding CEO of the Australia India Institute at the University of Melbourne and served as Chairman of the governing board of Miranda House, University of Delhi, the highest-ranked women's college in India; earlier, earlier he had served as Chair of Kirori Mal College.

Amitabh Mattoo was among the few ever appointed to Chair governing bodies of colleges affiliated with Delhi University although he was not an alumnus of the college or the university - in recognition of his leadership qualities.

Amitabh Mattoo has been a member of the Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing.

Amitabh Mattoo has been a persistent advocate of multiculturalism and of reconciliation between Kashmiri Pandits and Kashmiri Muslims.

Amitabh Mattoo went on to earn a DPhil in International Relations from the University of Oxford, writing a history of the campaign for nuclear disarmament.

Amitabh Mattoo describes the ten days of youth that he spent in Tihar jail as part of student protests at JNU as a 'life-shaping experience'.

Amitabh Mattoo comes from a well-known and progressive Kashmiri Pandit family of Srinagar, which never left the valley during the years of conflict.

Amitabh Mattoo has been a visiting professor at Stanford University, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Amitabh Mattoo has been Chairperson of the Centre for International Politics, Organization and Disarmament at Jawaharlal Nehru University as well as Founder Director and CEO of the Australia India Institute, University of Melbourne and a member of the National Knowledge Commission, a high-level advisory group to the Prime Minister of India.

Amitabh Mattoo has been a member of the advisory board of India's National Security Council, a member of the Indian Prime Minister's Task Force on Global Strategic Developments, on the executive committee and governing council of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, and a member of the Indian Prime Minister's High-Level Group on Nuclear Disarmament.

Amitabh Mattoo co-chaired the Knowledge Initiative with the Education Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

Amitabh Mattoo has published books on India's nuclear policy and India-Pakistan relations and has written on Kashmir.

Amitabh Mattoo has published ten books and more than 100 research articles.

Amitabh Mattoo regularly writes for Indian English-language newspapers such as The Telegraph and The Hindu, and has been a liberally inclined political commentator on national television.

Amitabh Mattoo became the youngest Vice-Chancellor of the University of Jammu in November 2002 and continued at this position until December 2008.

Amitabh Mattoo was a member of the committee, appointed by the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir in 2008, which negotiated the Amarnath land transfer controversy, a series of political events that had led to uprisings in Jammu and Kashmir.

On 21 August 2015, Amitabh Mattoo was appointed as Advisor to the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

Amitabh Mattoo endorses forgiveness and reconciliation among conflict-embittered South Asian peoples.

Amitabh Mattoo has a wealth of experience in areas concerned with university affairs, government and other institutions.

Amitabh Mattoo was awarded the Qimpro Platinum Standard Award and was recognised as a 'national statesman' for his work in the field of education along with Anand Mahindra, who was awarded for his leadership in business.

In 2016, Amitabh Mattoo was awarded a Doctor of Laws degree by the Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science, Tamil Nadu; and in 2018, the Capital Foundation Award for being an 'outstanding educationist'.

Amitabh Mattoo has received several awards for his contribution to India-Australia relations, including the Asoka Award.