Suman Chakraborty, a professor at the mechanical engineering department of IIT Kharagpur and an alumnus of Jadavpur University, has been appointed as the full-term director of IIT Kharagpur.

The post of a full-term director at IIT Kharagpur was vacant after the tenure of V.K. Tewari ended on December 31 last year. Amit Patra, director of IIT BHU (Varanasi), had been officiating as acting director of IIT Kharagpur since January 1 in the absence of a full-term director.

Chakraborty’s name was announced by the education ministry on Thursday evening, following a search and selection process.

Chakraborty, 51, who will take charge from the acting director this week, said one of his priority areas would be to stop the spate of student deaths on the campus.

“Like any other teacher, I am extremely concerned about the loss of lives. The IIT administration would do its best to stop the deaths. We will develop an institutional mechanism combined with a human touch to prevent deaths. I will also speak to my immediate predecessor, seeking to know what steps have been taken so far in handling the crisis,” said Chakraborty.

He graduated from the mechanical engineering department of JU in 1996.

Three BTech students of IIT Kharagpur were found dead on the campus in the past six months, prompting concerns about the lack of a robust institutional mechanism to prevent such deaths.

The institute last month formed a 10-member committee to probe the spate of deaths and suggest steps to ensure the well-being of students.

A resident of Dhakuria in south Calcutta, Chakraborty went to St Lawrence High School and completed his master’s and PhD from IISC Bangalore.

Chakraborty, who served as the dean of research initiatives at IIT Kharagpur, said he would work towards improving the academic profile of the country’s oldest IIT to attract bright students.

“IIT Kharagpur has got some outstanding teachers. But there are some negative perceptions about the institute. We will try to better our perception,” Chakraborty said.

He said efforts would be made to create more accommodation facilities on the residential campus.

In October 2023, the institute halted PhD admissions because of the lack of hostel facilities.