india

Updated: Jul 21, 2019 00:24 IST

Pratap Bhanu Mehta announced on Saturday that he would be stepping down as Vice Chancellor of Ashoka University effective August 1, 2019, but would continue to be associated with the institution and help it in any way he could.

In a letter addressed to members of the Ashoka Community, he said the decision had not been easy.

But after much deliberation, I decided that I need to return to more full-time academic life... I will continue to teach, learn, write and enjoy the intellectual richness of this wonderful university, and help it in any way I can,” he wrote.

Stressing that the decision was a personal one, he said the practical challenges and responsibilities that came with running a university had left him without enough space for his writing and other academic interests.

“I had lots of freedom but little time. It was time to give academic life one more shot before my synapses irrevocably hardened,” he said.

Thanking everyone for their support, Mehta said he would “miss the thrill of helping build one of the finest institutions India has ever seen” but was stepping down because he “increasingly felt the need to reorient myself academically”.