File Photo: Lord Karan Bilimoria
NRI entrepreneur Lord Karan Bilimoria has been appointed as the President of the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA).
He will replace Baroness Usha Prashar as she steps down, having served the maximum term of nine years. This is the latest in a string of higher education roles held by him.
Lord Bilimoria, the founder of Cobra Beer, is also Chancellor of the University of Birmingham, a Member of the Advisory Boards of the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge as well as the Cranfield School of Management, and was previously Chancellor of Thames Valley University.
Born in Hyderabad, 53-year-old Bilimoria was the youngest university Chancellor in the UK when he became Chancellor of Thames Valley University, now the University of West London.
"I am very pleased with all the work that UKCISA does to best represent the voice and mass of the international student body, particularly as I myself was an international student," he said after his appointment.
He said this appointment enables him to fully support the UKCISA manifesto and make a full commitment to speaking on behalf of Britain's talented international student community.
"Britain urgently needs more skilled and talented graduates, yet its disparaging rhetoric towards immigrants among those in power, paired with our Home Secretary's refusal to remove students from immigration targets, broadcasts the wrong message to those hoping to study here. As a result, we have seen members of the international student community turn its back on Britain in vast numbers," he said.
"I aim to do all I can to turn this worrying trend around by promoting the huge benefits of studying in Britain's great universities and pushing for talented and highly skilled students to be able to stay in Britain after graduation, through schemes like the two year post study work visa - which should be reintroduced.
"These measures will benefit international students, while strengthening the British economy and making Britain a hub for knowledge, skills and business," he added.
The UKCISA is the UK's national advisory body serving the interests of international students and those who work with them.