After months of sitting vacant, the top academic chair at Arunachal Pradesh University finally has someone in it — and his story is worth telling.
Professor Ashan Riddi has been officially appointed as the Vice-Chancellor of Arunachal Pradesh University (APU), situated in Pasighat, the scenic headquarters of East Siang district. The announcement came on September 16, and if you know anything about the significance of this role — at the only state university bearing Arunachal Pradesh’s name — you’ll understand why this is a big deal.
Riddi steps into shoes left behind by Professor Tomo Riba, the founding Vice-Chancellor of APU, who retired from service on February 28 this year. Being the founding VC of any institution is a rare distinction. Riba built APU from its earliest days. Now the task falls on Riddi — not to replicate what came before, but to take it forward.
And he is no stranger to the academic world. Riddi spent the bulk of his career as a Professor in the Department of History at Rajiv Gandhi University, the state’s central university also based in Arunachal Pradesh. Twenty-seven years of teaching, research, and institutional service — that’s not just experience, that’s a life’s work poured into higher education.
His area of expertise is particularly interesting, and frankly, deeply relevant to this appointment. Riddi’s scholarly work has centred on the history and culture of Northeast India, tribal history, and the resistance movements of Arunachal Pradesh’s indigenous communities. He holds a PhD in History from RGU, with doctoral research that explored the colonial resistance movement in the region. For a university that serves a state built on tribal heritage and distinct identities, having a Vice-Chancellor who genuinely understands that ground is no small thing.
He also comes with administrative muscle. Beyond the classroom and research, Riddi has held several administrative responsibilities at Rajiv Gandhi University — meaning he’s not walking into the VC’s office as a pure academic with no sense of how institutions run. He knows what governance looks like from the inside.
Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein wasted no time in extending his congratulations. Taking to social media, Mein expressed hope that Riddi’s leadership would strengthen academic excellence, research, and innovation at APU. “This is a significant responsibility, and I wish Professor Riddi a successful and meaningful tenure ahead,” he posted. Measured words, but the intent was clear — the government has expectations, and the spotlight is on.
APU had been without a permanent Vice-Chancellor since February. That’s nearly seven months. For a growing institution trying to establish itself as a credible academic force in the Northeast, leadership gaps are not just administrative inconveniences — they slow down decisions, delay initiatives, and quietly affect morale among faculty and students alike. This appointment, then, arrives not a moment too soon.
The university in Pasighat, carved out of the lush foothills near the Siang river, carries the weight of representing Arunachal’s aspirations in higher education. Students who once had to travel to Guwahati, Delhi, or beyond now have a university to call their own in their home state. The man now leading it has spent nearly three decades studying the very people and the very land it serves.
Whether Prof. Ashan Riddi can translate that deep understanding into institutional growth — better research output, stronger academic programmes, and a university that punches above its weight — remains to be seen. But the foundation, at least, looks solid.
