The National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, is pleased to welcome four distinguished academics and practitioners to the University:

Ms Neela Badami joins as a Professor of Practice.

Neela is a senior lawyer, teacher, writer, and public speaker with over two decades of experience in the legal profession, including seven years as an equity partner at Samvad Partners. Her professional and teaching expertise lie in venture capital and private equity, private M&A, startups, entrepreneurship and foreign exchange regulation.

Read more about Ms Neela here.

Prof. Janaki Nair joins as a Visiting Professor.

Janaki Nair was Professor of History at the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University until her retirement. She has also held Visiting Appointments and Fellowships at the University of California, Berkeley, USA; Columbia University, USA; University of Wuerzburg, Germany; German Historical Institute, London, UK; National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, Japan; Azim Premji University, Bengaluru; Cambridge University, UK; and Queen’s University, Belfast.

Read more about Prof. Janaki here.

Prof. Poonam Saxena joins as a Visiting Chair Professor, holding the Ford Foundation Chair in Public Interest Law.

Poonam Saxena is the former Vice Chancellor of the National Law University, Jodhpur, where she led the university’s administration for ten years. Before joining NLU Jodhpur, she served as Professor-in-Charge of Law Centre II at the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi. With 41 years of experience in teaching and academic administration, she specialises in Family Law, Property Law, and Women and Law.

Read more about Prof. Poonam here.

Dr Vijendra Rao joins as a Distinguished University Fellow.

Dr Vijendra Rao is a development economist whose work combines economics with anthropology, sociology and political science to study how social and cultural forces shape poverty, governance and public action. From 1999 until June 2026, he worked at the World Bank’s Development Research Group, retiring as Lead Economist.

Read more about Dr Vijendra here.