Strong leaders command excellence, which is exactly what our Leadership Panel is known for. Led by the Founder & Chancellor, the panel believes in a collaborative leadership approach to leverage the diverse experience and expertise they bring with them. The panel plays a pivotal role in facilitating strong strategy, policies, operations & management, with an end goal of making our vision a successful reality.
Praveen K Pula is a futuristic Edupreneur and veteran in the higher education space for over 16 years. He started his education venture in 2004 in the UK, followed by Woxsen School of Business, Hyderabad, in 2014, which has now exponentially grown to receive the coveted 'University' title having 5 additional schools of Business, Design, Architecture, Technology, Liberal Arts & Humanities, and Law.
Praveen runs a well-diversified group interested in Education, Food and Hospitality space.
Prior to this, Praveen has enjoyed global recognition on multiple occasions. His Persistence, Global vision, and Leadership skills have won him many accolades and awards on National & International levels.
Praveen's vision of creating a truly global educational institution which can make a tangible difference to society and disrupt the education space in India has taken Woxsen to greater heights. Woxsen University has been consistently ranked in top positions by the Times, Outlook, IIRF, BusinessWorld and other prestigious bodies, one of the latest being rated the highest level of 5 in the Global Positive Impact Rating for its positive social impact and sustainability endeavours.
Praveen finds it crucial to prepare students for a global world and internationalisation remains a core pillar at Woxsen with partners in over 40 countries. Bridging the Academia-Industry gap, he ensures practices at Woxsen are aligned to the practical world and has taken up several endeavours for its fulfilment.
Praveen’s emphasis on quality education is manifested in the kind of facilities and world-class infrastructure complementing holistic education not only in terms of academic pedagogy, but also non-academic pursuits such as sports & fitness, extracurriculars and a global lifestyle.
Praveen has taken up the challenge of nurturing an entrepreneurial mindset in every individual. His intense focus on practice, experience, skill and hands-on learning is the driving force behind his ventures. In addition, Praveen has always taken a keen interest in being an investor. He has invested in multiple companies in the past and motivated startup founders to realize their dream. Woxsen's incubation centre - the Trade Tower induces, guides, refines and funds potential in-house startups.
Being a fervent golfer, Praveen has championed the game in multiple tournaments.
"When purpose is strong, passion ignites. When passion becomes obsession, things begin to happen" - Praveen K Pula
Dr. R.V.R. Krishna Chalam holds a Ph.D. in Environment Science and Technology from IST, JNTU, Hyderabad, while he also holds a PGDM in Shipping & Export Management from NISIT, Visakhapatnam.
With a profound work experience of 27 years, he has been reckoned at the position of Dean, Executive Council Member of University, Member of University Research Board, University Entrepreneurship and Innovation Council at prominent Institutions of the country.
His 8 years of Industry experience highlights 40+ projects sponsored by World Bank, DFID, Central and State Government, International GIS projects related to Land Base, Utility Mapping & Spatial Data Conversion of Japan, USA, Austria, Oman, Australia, UAE, Canada, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
His experience includes accomplishing private projects for prominent companies & establishments like India Cement, Tata Electric, Tata Teleservices, Reliance, Bharathi Telecom, Himachal Futuristic, Indian Telephone Industries, Nortel Networks and many more.
He successfully researched the Development of an Effective Wireless Sensor Network System for Water Quality and Quantity Monitoring under the Ministry of Communication & Information Technology, Govt. of India, with a total outlay of 2.9 Cr.
His ongoing project called ICT Grand Challenge for Smart Water Quality Monitoring and Quantity Metering Development and Field Deployment Smart Water Quality Monitoring and Quantity Metering for 25 Villages across the country comes under the NJJM Project with a total outlay of 750K Cr., standing in the Top 5 out of 300+ applicants across India.
Mr. Vishal Khurma holds the post of CEO for Woxsen University. A successful commercial leader & growth hacker, his illustrious career spans over 22 years in Consumer Goods, Retail, Telecom and Higher Education space. He has been awarded the Excellence in Education Award at Higher Education Summit in 2021 and the Global Business Excellence Award at the Asia - African Leadership Summit in 2020.
His experience straddles across Global & Indian conglomerates with leading brands such as PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Dabur and Tata Teleservices catering to various mass and premium product categories.
Under his astute leadership, Woxsen University brand has become a name to reckon with. Over the last few years, Woxsen has strongly emerged at All India Rank 13 in the Times B-School Ranking and Rank 16 in BusinessWorld B-School Survey. At Woxsen, Mr. Khurma is responsible for Building High-Performance Teams across the crucial functions of Marketing & Sales strategy, Corporate Outreach, Placement Preparation and Student Wellness Cell.
With meticulous research, the launch of new schools and the inclusion of disruptive programs, Woxsen University today has grown 3X in terms of revenue and student enrolments during his tenure. In addition, his strong industry network and steadfastness towards the career development of students brought in 135+ leading corporates in the last 2 placement cycles ensuring a 100% placement track with a significant spike in the placement metrics.
Dr. Raul Villamarin Rodriguez, Vice President of Woxsen University, is a distinguished Cognitive Technologist and Adjunct Professor at Universidad del Externado, Colombia. He serves as a member of the International Advisory Board at IBS Ranepa, Russian Federation, and holds positions on the Advisory Boards of PUCPR, Johannesburg Business School, SA, Milpark Business School, South Africa, PetThinQ Inc, and SpaceBasic, Inc. Additionally, Dr. Rodriguez is a Visiting Professor at Uni. del Rosario and an Expert at UNESCO.
As a Steering Committee Member for the Annual Conference at EFMD Global, Dr. Raul is deeply involved in shaping the future of education. He is honored with a scholarship in his name at ZIBS, China, and represents India in the PRME i5 Expert Pedagogy Group. Further, he holds two prestigious titles: Steven Pinker Professor of Cognitive Psychology and Classavo Chair Professorship in Integrative Research and Digital Learning.
Dr. Rodriguez specializes in the convergence of cognitive psychology with cutting-edge technologies such as Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Natural Language Processing, Computer Vision, Robotic Process Automation, Multi-agent Systems, Knowledge Engineering, and Quantum Artificial Intelligence. Registered as an expert in Artificial Intelligence, Intelligent Systems, and Multi-agent Systems at the European Commission, he has been nominated for the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe 2020 list and recognized as a Europe India 40 under 40 Leader.
A sought-after keynote speaker and panel moderator, Dr. Raul contributes significantly to national and international conferences, including the ML Conference (Singapore). He actively participates in the ETS Business School Advisory Council (BSAC) in India and the Institute for Robotics Process Automation & Artificial Intelligence. Committed to responsible research, he aligns his efforts with RRBM, GRLI, and PRME.
Dr. Rodriguez's influence extends to the literary realm, co-authoring reference books in Psychology and Human-Tech interface available in Taylor and Francis and IGI Global. As a weekly contributing writer to various magazines focusing on analytics and emerging technologies, he continues to shape the discourse in these fields.