Dr Meenakshi Gopinath

Founder Director
WISCOMP
India

Dr Meenakshi Gopinath is the Founder and Director of Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace (WISCOMP). She is Chair of the Board of Governors of the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and Principal Emerita of Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi, where she served as Principal for 26 years (1988–2014).

She has served on advisory bodies of the Planning Commission of India and the University Grants Commission, and was the first woman nominated to India’s National Security Advisory Board.

Dr Gopinath is actively engaged in multi-track peace initiatives and people-to- people dialogues in South Asia. She has served on the boards of national and international institutions, including the United Nations Peace University (Costa Rica), Nonviolent Peaceforce (Geneva), and the Asian University for Women (Bangladesh).

She has written and lectured widely on conflict transformation, peacebuilding, women’s leadership, international relations, and education for peace, and has developed curricula across universities, colleges, and schools.

Her awards include the Padma Shri, Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi Award, Rajiv Gandhi Award for Excellence in Education, an Honorary Doctorate from La Trobe University, the Distinguished Alumna Award (LSR), and the Nirbhaya Puraskar (2017).