The Kerala Lok Bhavan appointed Mavoothu Duraipandi, Professor and former Director, School of Management Studies, Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), as the Vice-Chancellor in-charge of Mahatma Gandhi University on Monday (June 1, 2026).

The move follows the retirement of Prof., who had been serving as the university’s Vice-Chancellor in a temporary capacity since the retirement of former Vice Chancellor Prof. Sabu Thomas in May 2023.

A native of Tamil Nadu, Prof. Mavoothu currently serves as the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at CUSAT and the Dean of the Faculty of Management Studies at Kerala University. He holds an MBA from Madurai Kamaraj University and a PhD from CUSAT.

He will hold charge of the Vice-Chancellor’s office until a regular appointment is made. Sources indicate that the State government had not forwarded any recommendation or panel of candidates to the Lok Bhavan for the appointment of an interim Vice-Chancellor.