Britain’s Newcastle University faced criticism for awarding a sustainability professorship to Anant Ambani, the son of Asia’s richest man and owner of a scandal-hit giant wildlife centre in India.
Vantara, which calls itself the world’s largest rescue centre, last month announced a major reset of its procedures following concerns about its rapid and vast acquisition of animals from around the world, including endangered species.
Newcastle University said on Sept 14 it awarded the professorship of practice in sustainability to Ambani “in recognition of his significant contributions to advancing a more sustainable future”.
“Work at Vantara closely aligns with the University’s world-leading research on global conservation and biodiversity targets,” the university said.
It also noted his role as an executive director at Reliance Industries, a retail and oil conglomerate headed by his father and billionaire tycoon Mukesh Ambani.
“Newcastle University is really stooping low here and making a mockery of sustainability,” Lyla Mehta, a researcher at the Institute of Development Studies, affiliated with the University of Sussex, said on social media.
“Universities are supposed to be places that question power and hold corporations to account, not give them academic legitimacy,” Mehta had told The Guardian, which first reported it. — AFP
