Ciza Thomas, senior joint director, Directorate of Technical Education, has been given charge of Vice Chancellor, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU). A notification issued by Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, who is also the Chancellor of the university, said that pending the appointment of a regular Vice Chancellor, Dr. Thomas would exercise the powers and perform the duties of the Vice Chancellor with immediate effect. She would continue in her role at the Directorate of Technical Education.
Dr. Thomas did her BTech and MTech from the College of Engineering (CET), Thiruvananthapuram, and PhD from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. She joined government service in 1991 and has worked in government engineering colleges, with three years as the head of department.
She has undergone training at Carnegie Mellon University and Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), Pittsburgh, USA, with Government of India scholarship and has collaborated with various universities in projects. She has also edited several books and has a long list of research publications.
The post of VC in KTU fell vacant after the Supreme Court cancelled the appointment of Dr. M.S. Rajasree on a plea stating that her appointment was not in accordance with UGC norms.