Shailendra joined NLSIU as the Manager of Academic Administration in February 2025. In his new role, he aims to leverage his diverse expertise to streamline processes, enhance student engagement, and contribute to the university’s growth and success.
Prior to joining NLSIU, Shailendra served as Manager in the Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor at Ashoka University, where he was instrumental in overseeing university governance, policy development, administrative operations, budgeting, compliance, event management, and accreditation processes. He also held key positions at O.P. Jindal Global University where he managed academic operations for the Business School, led teams, and contributed to institutional accreditations among other responsibilities. He has also worked with MIT Vishwashanti Gurukul (Pune) and BML Munjal University (Gurgaon), and was involved in student affairs, operations, and event planning.
Shailendra has a BA from Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur. He also has a certification in Effective Management Skills and Leadership from the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand.
Outside of his professional endeavours, Shailendra is a passionate equestrian, having competed at the national level in horse riding.
In a career spanning 30 years, Mr. Shailesh has had the opportunity to lead large business units, strategic client relationships and operations at scale across industries and customer segments. Prior to joining NLSIU, he was the Business Head for the Smart World Unit of L&T, driving some of the largest projects in the field of Smart Cities and National Digital Backbone. Before that he spent more than 25 years with IBM and was instrumental in setting up a large domestic base for IBM in India. In the late 90s, he also set up the domestic Sales organization for Adobe Corporation in India.
Mr. Shailesh is an electrical engineer from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and an alumnus of XLRI, Jamshedpur.
In 2022, he took up the role of Chief Operating Officer (COO) at NLSIU to better manage and improve our infrastructure, facilities, and operations. During his time as COO, he led and executed all operational functions to meet NLSIU’s evolving needs and strategic goals across a variety of the University’s functions including its infrastructure projects, estate, facilities, and IT. He also worked in partnership with teams across the University to drive innovation, transformation and improved performance, within and across functions.
In 2024, he transitioned into the role of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) & Strategic Initiatives. He will continue to oversee the University’s IT infrastructure, platforms and services.
Sheshachala Murthy joined NLSIU in 2007 where he started working in the Finance Department. Prior to NLSIU, he worked at the National Assessment Accreditation Council (NAAC) from 2004 to 2007. During his tenure at NAAC, he assisted the Deputy Advisor on academic matters such as assessment, publications, etc.
In his current capacity as Assistant Manager in the People & Culture Office, he covers the following work areas – payroll, matters involving local government stakeholders, income tax matters, budgets and financials. He also assists with HR related matters. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce (2003) and a Master’s degree in Commerce (2015) from Bangalore University.
Shruthi is a qualified Chartered Accountant with four years of work experience. She has previously worked with B S R & Co. LLP, Bengaluru – Member firm of KPMG in India. Her core responsibilities at the University include Student financials, Compliance, and Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A).
Shubha is a Chartered Accountant and Cost Accountant with over 25 years of professional experience, including leadership experience in services and manufacturing sectors, managing India and US GAAP accounting, finance, legal compliance, MIS Management and budgeting, and stakeholder management.
She graduated with a gold medal in B.Com from Stella Maris College, Chennai, and holds an MBA in Finance, as well as an MS (Finance) degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA. She took charge as NLSIU’s Chief Finance and Administrative Officer (CFAO) in September 2021.
Before NLSIU, she served as Senior Vice President (Finance) at Swasth Digital Health Foundation, where she led treasury, fund raising, business finance and compliance functions. Her previous stints include providing leadership for finance and accounting operations at Azim Premji University, heading Finance & Accounts Center of Excellence (FCoE) at Infosys BPM, providing business finance support at Wipro Ltd, and Larsen & Toubro Ltd, among others. She has also been a visiting faculty for finance and accounting courses at ICFAI, Christ University, and Amity Global Business School.
At NLSIU, Shubha plans to leverage her financial expertise and organisational skills to build strong technology-enabled financial systems with focus on efficiency, transparency and compliance.
Siddhant Samal is a development practitioner with a background in educational training and development, with over two years of experience in the public education sector.
Siddhant has worked towards enhancing the quality of learning in the tribal regions of Chhattisgarh. His role involved providing scaffolding support to primary and upper primary grade teachers, designing educational modules for workshops, and facilitating state-level in-service teacher training programmes, and conducting impact assessments of educational interventions.
His interests lie in educational research, curriculum development, and inclusive education practices. He holds a degree in Economics with honors from the Banaras Hindu University, and a Masters (M.A.) in Development, from the Azim Premji University, Bengaluru.
Outside of his professional life, Siddhant is passionate about cycling, trekking, and photography. These interests not only provide him with personal joy and satisfaction but also contribute to his holistic development.
With over 8 years of experience in university library management, Sidlingappa Huded holds a Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science from Karnatak University, Dharwad, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Library Automation and Networking from the University of Hyderabad. He has qualified for UGC-NET and K-SET.
Before his tenure at NLSIU, Sidlingappa made significant contributions at Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, where he oversaw collection development, library services, user training, scholarly communication, and technology implementation. As a core member of the archives team, he contributed to the Schoolbooks Archive—an open-access repository preserving textbooks and related artifacts spanning the last two centuries on the subcontinent. He also played a key role in establishing the Dr. PM Bhargava Archives.
He is interested in community libraries and actively supports village panchayat libraries around Azim Premji University. He has spearheaded various initiatives aimed at engaging community members and improving library accessibility.
His research contributions extend across journals, conferences, book chapters, and newspapers. Sidlingappa’s diverse interests include bibliometrics, user studies, community libraries, electronic information resources, archives, and open access. His publications can be accessed here.
Sneha has 18 years of professional experience which includes university operations and publishing work. She joined NLSIU in July 2022 and worked as Senior Manager-AAD till November 2024.
Prior to joining NLSIU, she worked with Azim Premji University (APU), Bangalore where she handled academic and non-academic administration, outreach and placement activities, and managing publications at the University. As part of her work at APU, she also worked for different State and Central regulatory requirements such as UGC, KSHEC and AIU. Previously, she worked with Manipal City & Guilds, Tata McGraw-Hill, Aptara Corporation, and Thomson Digital.
At NLSIU, Sneha plans to leverage her professional expertise and organisational skills to streamline and automate the academic administration process.
Snigdha has previously been an Editorial Intern at Grapevine India, a boutique publishing company. Additionally, she was a Marketing and Partnerships Development Associate at eduPaper, a non-profit initiative to reduce paper waste in India. She plans to use her diverse experiences to assist the Communications team at NLSIU.
She graduated with a BA (Hons) in English from Shaheed Bhagat Singh College (University of Delhi) and a gold medal. She went on to study MA Translation and Interpreting Studies at University of Manchester. With her translation and subtitling skills, she volunteers for TED to transcribe and translate their videos. She has a strong interest in languages, their intricacies, their impact on human relations and communications, digital painting and graphic design.
Soumya has previously worked in the area of academic administration and operations in educational institutions for higher education of medical professionals and urban practitioners. She also has prior experience in teaching lower primary children and undergraduate students in a reputed institutions.
Soumya is Home Science graduate with a postgraduate degree in Human Development specialising in Early Childhood Care and Education. Her academic interests include – education for children with special needs and for children from underprivileged backgrounds.
During her leisure time, she enjoys reading and writing; aerobics and practising yoga are part of her fitness regime. She believes in mindful and minimalistic living.
