- Kapil Kapoor has been appointed the next chairperson of the Shimla based Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS).
- Mr. Kapil Kumar will replace Chandrakala Padia.
- Mr. Kapoor taught at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) as a professor at the Centre for Linguistic and English Studies till 2005. He was concurrently professor at the Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies at JNU, which is now the School of Sanskrit and Indic Studies.
- Currently he is at Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya at Wardha, Gujarat.
- He is known for his command on western linguists like Noam Chomsky.
- He was instrumental in setting up the Centre for Linguistics and English Studies in 1977. He also set up the Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies in JNU, as also the Greek Chair in the university. He was also member of the Governing Body of IIAS, Shimla, from 1999 to 2004.
- He has the distinction of having delivered a lecture in the House of Lords in UK on an invite from there.
- Prof. Kapoor is considered an authority on Abhinavgupta, an 11th century philosopher of Kashmir Saivism. He is also authoring a book on the key manuscripts of Abhinavgupta.
About Indian Institute of Advanced Study
- The Indian Institute of Advanced Study Society was registered on 6 October 1964 under the Registration of Societies Act of 1860. Exactly 54 weeks later, the Institute was formally inaugurated by President Radhakrishnan himself.
- The primary objective of the Institute was ‘to provide an environmentsuitable for academic research’ in the humanities, and the social and natural sciences.
- The Institute is headed by a Director who is assisted in financial, administrative and academic matters by a Secretary.
- The Institute is funded primarily by the Government of India’s Ministry of Human Resource Development.
- The Institute is situated at Rashtrapati Niwas Shimla.
