Prof. V.N.Rajasekharan Pillai (VNR Pillai) is the Vice-Chancellor of Somaiya Vidyavihar University and Provost of Somaiya Vidyavihar and Somaiya Ayurvihar under the Somaiya Trust, Mumbai has been appointed as a member of the Advisory board at the Federation of Education Leaders and Administrators. FELA is a non-profit organization that aims to be the voice of education and resolve obstacles through democratic exchange between education leaders and policymakers. 

He has been at the helm of affairs of many higher educational and scientific research establishments for over 50 years as a teacher, researcher, professor, and executive head of Education, Science and Technology establishments in the country and abroad. An Elected Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Prof. Rajasekharan Pillai is one of the top-cited Chemistry researchers in the country. He created an internationally renowned research group in the area of Polymer Science. About 60 doctoral and post-doctoral researchers have been trained under his direct supervision at Calicut, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, University of Tubingen, and University of Mainz, Germany. IGNOU, Mewar University, Udaipur, and Somaiya Vidyavihar University Mumbai. Researchers trained under his supervision occupy positions as Directors of National Labs, VCs of Universities, Bhatnagar Prize winners, Infosys Prize Winner, University Professors, Principals & Scientists in the country and abroad. He was also a Visiting Research Professor in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Top executive positions which he occupied include the  Vice-Chairmanship and Chairmanship of the University Grants Commission, Government of India; Executive Director of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), Government of India; Vice-Chancellor of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU); Chairman of the Distance Education Council, Government of India; Vice-Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala; Vice-Chancellor of Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala; Executive Vice-President of the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology & Environment; Ex-Officio Principal Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of Kerala; Chairman of the Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority, (under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India), and Chairman of the Kerala Biotechnology Commission. After Superannuation from India and the Government of Kerala, Prof. Pillai worked as President of Mewar University, Rajasthan. He is also working as President of a New Delhi NCR-based Civil Society Organisation, Human Development Foundation India, since 2015. He is on the Director Board of Apollo Group of Hospitals and the Boards of several academic and research establishments in the country and abroad. 

Prof. Rajasekharan Pillai has served as Chairman of the National Level Committees on Accreditation of Universities, Chairperson of the MHRD Committee for converting National Institutes of Technologies into University-level institutions, and Chairperson of the committee for conferring Deemed-to-be-university status for several prestigious Higher Education Institutions. He has been the Chairman of the Central Universities’ Vice-Chancellor Search Committees. He is the recipient of several national and international recognitions and awards, including the M.V. Pyle National Award for the “Top Academician of India” Award. Swadeshi Shastra Puraskaram, Materials Research Society of India- Royal Society of Chemistry, Lifetime Achievement Award of the Indian Chemical Society, Indian Science Congress Association and ISCA-Presidential Gold Medal from the Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh. Prof Rajasekharan Pillai has been a member of the Drafting Committee of the UNESCO Policy on Higher Education, representing India. He is also serving as the Chancellor of ICFAI University Tripura and its Chairman, Board of Governors.

A member of the Advisory Board of FELA acquires responsibilities such as advising the organization regarding various internal and external policies, administration and governance. The Advisory board members are required to attend the annual Board meeting, where they would discuss and provide input for the positive nurturing and growth of the organization