3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: May 12, 2026 09:11 PM IST
When St Stephen’s College opens its gates this June, it will mark a historic first in the institution’s 145-year history. Professor Susan Elias, a computer scientist and academic administrator, is set to become the college’s first woman principal from June 1. She succeeds Professor John Varghese.
Unlike many of her predecessors at Stephen’s, an institution historically associated with humanities, theology, politics, and the liberal arts, Elias is from a markedly different academic background with nearly three decades of experience in engineering education and interdisciplinary research.
Speaking to The Indian Express, College Chairman Paul Swarup said Professor Elias comes from a “computing and engineering background”, describing her appointment as a move that could bring “the cutting edge of technology hopefully at St Stephen’s”. Swarup said the appointment followed “the proper procedure”, with the post being publicly advertised, followed by interviews, shortlisting and candidate presentations before the final selection was made.
Professor Elias built her entire academic career in Chennai before moving into national-level university administration roles. She completed her Bachelors of Engineering in Computer Science from Bharath Engineering College in 1991, Masters of Engineering in Multimedia Technology from Anna University, PhD in Computer Science from Anna University and was a Postdoctoral fellowship at Indian Institute of Technology Madras.
Over the past three decades, she moved steadily through teaching, research administration, and institutional leadership positions.
She held senior leadership roles across several private universities and engineering institutions: She served as a Pro Vice Chancellor (Research) at Chandigarh University and Director of Research and Head of the Digital Health & Bio-Innovations Centre at Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science.
She was the Dean of the School of Electronics Engineering (SENSE) at Vellore Institute of Technology in Chennai. She was also the Deputy Director for the Centre of Advanced Data Sciences in the same institute.
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She was also a professor at Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering.
Her later roles increasingly focused on interdisciplinary research administration, particularly AI applications in healthcare, electronics, and sustainability.
Elias’s academic work spans machine learning, explainable AI, medical imaging, federated learning, robotics, and digital health. Much of her published research sits at the intersection of engineering and healthcare. Her research profile also includes externally funded projects supported by agencies such as DRDO, DST and MeitY.
In December, the college advertised the position publicly. Sources at the college told The Indian Express that Elias was one among the eight shortlisted candidates for the post.
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Her appointment comes after years of tussle surrounding the office of the principal, with the college administration and DU sparring over the continuation of Professor Varghese beyond his original five-year term, which ended in March 2021.
DU had repeatedly termed his continuation “illegal” and “non-statutory”, arguing that the extension violated the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) regulations requiring a fresh selection process and performance review involving university and UGC nominees. However, St Stephen’s had reportedly stated that the re-appointment of Varghese was done according to the resolutions of the college’s supreme council.
