Vishwakarma University in India was crowned Leadership and Management of the Year at the fifth annual Times Higher Education (THE) Awards Asia in Hong Kong earlier today.  

With a 19 year history in the UK and Ireland, and widely known as the ‘Oscars of higher education’, the awards are now fully established in Asia too, celebrating outstanding work across a wide range of university functions – covering academia, leadership and management, and the professional services – and crucially, they tell the inspirational stories that rankings cannot capture. 

The full list of this year’s winners are: 
       Leadership and Management Team of the Year: Vishwakarma University, India 

       Excellence and Innovation in the Arts: Naresuan University, Thailand 

     Teaching and Learning Strategy of the Year: University of Hong Kong, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, Hong Kong 
(Highly commended: Ahmedabad University, India) 

   Outstanding Contribution to Regional Development: Taylor’s University, Malaysia 

    Outstanding Support for Students: Tokyo University of Science, Japan 
(Highly commended: Nakhon Ratchasima Rajabhat University, Thailand) 

    International Strategy of the Year: Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong 

    Outstanding Contribution to Environmental Leadership: Abdullah Gül University, Turkey 

    Workplace of the Year: Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), South Korea 

     Technological or Digital Innovation of the Year: Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India 

     Student Recruitment Campaign of the Year: Lingnan University, Hong Kong 
(Highly commended: Izmir Institute of Technology, Turkey) 

It was Vishwakarma University’s powerful commitment to the public good – not always a priority for private universities – that impressed the judges and confirmed the difficult decision to declare it the winner in a highly competitive category, Leadership and Management Team of the Year. 
 

In another record year for entries nearly 700, from more than 220 institutions representing over 20 countries and territories, Hong Kong was the biggest winner with three institutions taking home prizes. This was followed by Indian universities, with two wins and one highly commended entry. Thailand and Turkey achieved one win and one highly commended entry each. Japan, Malaysia and South Korea had one win each.