Mrunalini Devi Puar (25 June 1931 – 2 January 2015) was an Indian educator and first woman chancellor of a recognized Indian university with more than 35,000 students.

Biography

Puar was an educator and Maharani of

Dhar State Dhar is a city located in Dhar district of the Malwa region in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. The city is the administrative headquarters of the Dhar district. Before Indian independence from Great Britain, it was the capital of the Dhar ...

. She was a member of the

Gaekwad dynasty The Gaekwads of Baroda (also spelled as Gaikwads, Guicowars, Gaekwars) ( IAST: ''Gāyakavāḍa'') are a Hindu Maratha dynasty origin of the former Maratha Empire and its subsequent Princely States. A dynasty belonging to this clan ruled the pr ...

, the former ruling clan of

Baroda State Baroda State was a state in present-day Gujarat, ruled by the Gaekwad dynasty of the Maratha Confederacy from its formation in 1721 until its Instrument of Accession, accession to the newly formed Dominion of India in 1949. With the city of Ba ...

and also a member of the

Puar Puar may refer to: * Pawar, Maratha rulers of Dhar State and Dewas State. * Pu'ar, a character in ''Dragon Ball'' People with the name * Hemendra Singh Rao Pawar, present titular Maharaja of Dhar State * Tukojirao III (Tukoji Rao III Puar of Dew ...

dynasty of Dhar, both former

Maratha The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a ...

princely states A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to ...

. She was married to Maharaja Anand Rao IV Puar, the Maharaja of

. She was chancellor of the

Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, formerly Baroda College, is a public university in the city of Vadodara, in Gujarat state, India. Originally established as a college in 1881, it became a university in 1949 after the independence of ...

. She succeeded her brother

Fatehsinghrao Gaekwad Fatehsinghrao Prataprao Gaekwad II (2 April 1930, Baroda – 1 September 1988, Bombay) was an Indian politician, cricketer, and titular Maharaja of Baroda from 1951 until 1988. In the 26th amendment to the Constitution of India promulgated in ...

Maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great Monarch, king" or "high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Em ...

of Baroda, as chancellor when he died in 1988. A dietician by training, Puar had a B.Sc., Faculty of Home Science, from

Maharaja Sayajirao University The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, formerly Baroda College, is a public university in the city of Vadodara, in Gujarat state, India. Originally established as a college in 1881, it became a university in 1949 after the independence of ...

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capi ...

and did her M.S. (food and nutrition) from Iowa State University of Science and Technology in the United States. She later returned to

Vadodara Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capita ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

, to complete her Ph.D. in food and nutrition from

. Puar continued the Gaekwad family's glorious tradition of service through education, including as MSU chancellor. Puar, 83, took charge as the chancellor of MSU in 1988. She was the first woman chancellor of a recognized Indian university with more than 35,000 students. She served as a member of the Commission on Education and Training, the International Union for Conservation of Nature & Natural Resources (IUCNNR), Switzerland and as Chairperson, Food & Nutrition Programme Committee, International Federation For Home Economics (IFHM), France. She was also a member of the steering group on Nutrition, Planning Commission, Government of India and of the Governing Body, Institute Of Home Economics, New Delhi. She was a member of the advisory committee for Rajiv Gandhi Institute For Contemporary Studies, Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, New Delhi, and a variety of other organisations. She also taught at The

for about 12 years before she became its chancellor. Hari Singh and Arjun Singh are related to Mrunalini Devi Puar. Their mother, Shashi Prabha Raje is from Dhar and is the daughter of Dhairyashil Rao Puar of Dhar. Puar died on 2 January 2015 following a short illness. She was 83.

References

External links

Gaekwad Dynasty of Baroda
includes a bio of HH Maharani Dr. Mrunalini Devi (she was married to HH Maharaja Anandrao IV Puar of

Dhar Dhar is a city located in Dhar district of the Malwa region in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. The city is the administrative headquarters of the Dhar district. Before Indian independence from Great Britain, it was the capital of the ...

)
Profile
at the MS University of Baroda website 1931 births 2015 deaths Dietitians Gaekwad dynasty Women educators from Madhya Pradesh 20th-century Indian educators Indian nutritionists Indian women medical doctors 20th-century Indian women scientists Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda alumni Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda faculty People from Dhar Medical doctors from Madhya Pradesh 20th-century Indian medical doctors Educators from Madhya Pradesh Women scientists from Madhya Pradesh 20th-century women physicians 20th-century women educators {{India-royal-stub

Biography

See also

References

External links