Culminating a national search, the Board of Trustees of the City University of New York on June 30 voted to appoint Manoj Pardasani as Hunter College’s provost and senior vice president of academic affairs and student success.
“I am thrilled that Manoj emerged as the overwhelming choice of the search committee’s rigorous process and that the CUNY board has approved the appointment,” said Hunter President Nancy Cantor. “Manoj is one of the most exceptional academic leaders that I’ve had the privilege to work with over the course of my career — an outstanding, publicly engaged scholar, a profoundly empathetic colleague, and an expansively experienced professional who brings deep wisdom and compassion to addressing the array of demands facing higher education today.”
Cantor added that while Pardasani has served Hunter since August 2022 as interim provost and vice president of academic affairs, the reference to “student success” in his permanent position title signals a more holistic approach for the role.
“Provosts typically oversee deans, the faculty, and academic programs, and Manoj has been simply outstanding at cultivating a climate of collaboration and innovation across our schools — for example, by strengthening faculty recruitment and recognition, seeding faculty development across schools through our Academic Center of Excellence in Research and Teaching, and facilitating the complex, cross-school choreography required to prepare the way for the Science Park and Research Campus project to become a reality,” she said. “But we also want it to be explicit that our chief academic officer at Hunter has a role to play in supporting student success, especially by assuring coordination of academic affairs, student affairs, and other aspects of administration toward that end. Manoj has precisely the right mix of talents and collegial acumen to do all of that.”
Pardasani said he is humbled by the confidence in him shown by the search committee, Cantor, and the board.
“I am deeply honored to be named as the permanent provost and eager to continue working with our brilliant faculty, students, and staff as they make an impact on the world,” Pardasani said. “Hunter College is such a rich and diverse collection of change-makers, all of whom bring the knowledge of their myriad lived experiences to the college. It is a privilege to facilitate their education and serve as the vehicle for social mobility and opportunity.”
Earlier, Pardasani served as Hunter’s associate provost and as a faculty member of the Lois V. and Samuel J. Silberman School of Social Work. Most recently, he served as dean of the School of Social Work at Adelphi University, and he was associate dean of the Fordham Graduate School of Social Service. Having earned master’s and PhD degrees from Yeshiva University in social work, he is a gerontological scholar who researches community-based programs and services for older adults in order to impact social policies.
Pardasani has been a visiting professor in China, Germany, Chile, and the United Kingdom, and he has been invited to share his social-welfare research by the governments of Chile, South Korea, Taiwan, and India. He has won many honors, including the Mid-Career Exemplary Social Work Leader Award from the National Association of Social Workers and the Fulbright Specialist Award. His bachelor’s degree is from the University of Mumbai.
