Sonajharia Minz

Indian academic and researcher (born 1962)

Sonajharia Minz

Born| December 1962

Gumla, Jharkhand

Occupations|

* Mathematician
* computer scientist
* researcher
* activist

Father| Nirmal Minz
Academic background
Education|

* Jawaharlal Nehru University (PhM & PhD in Computer Science)
Women's Christian College
Madras Christian College (M.Sc in Mathematics)

Sonajharia Minz (born 1962) is an Indian academic, mathematician, computer scientist, researcher and tribal rights activist. She served as the Vice-Chancellor of Sido Kanhu Murmu University from May 2020 to June 2023.[1][2] She is currently a professor at the School of Computer and Systems Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University and serves as the UNESCO Co-Chair in Indigenous Knowledge, Research, Governance (IKRG) and Transformative Reconciliation.[3][4]

## Early life

[edit]

Born in December 1962, Sonajharia hails from Oraon tribe, and from Gumla district in Jharkhand. She is the oldest of the four daughters of Paracleta Minz and Late Dr. Nirmal Minz, a social ideologue and activist. Having been nurtured to fight the odds to prove as equal with the best and to go beyond, she completed her schooling in Ranchi.[5] Her interest in athletics and games were founded in school which played a role in shaping her determination on the face of odds. She completed her Pre University Course (PUC) from Jyoti Nivas College, Bangalore and graduated in mathematics from Women's Christian College, Chennai. She continued to do MSc in mathematics from Madras Christian College, Chennai.[6]

## Academic career

[edit]

After completing M.Phil. computer science from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, Minz worked as the assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science, Barkatullah University of Bhopal since May 1990. She joined the Department of Computer Science, Madurai Kamaraj University in March 1991. In January 1992, Minz became assistant professor in the School of Computer and Systems Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University. She earned her PhD in computer science from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi in 1997.[7]

Minz was appointed in the post of associate professor in 1997 and was promoted to be professor at the School of Computer and Systems Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University in 2005. Her areas of research include artificial intelligence, machine learning, soft computing (rough set theory, granular computing), data mining and geospatial analytics. She has supervised several doctoral research and master's research and has published research papers in international and national journals, and has presented research papers in conferences, international and national, of high repute.[8]

Raised with the sensitivity about the plight of the tribal communities in Central India, having faced discriminatory treatment at a very young age at school, she engaged in matters of the constitutional provisions and rights of the marginalized and underprivileged students, dalit, adivasi, people with disabilities, women and minorities, informally as well as in her formal capacity of advisor and later, chief advisor, Equal Opportunity Office (EOO), Jawaharlal Nehru University. She was a member of Gender Sensitization and Committee Against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH).[9] Minz assumed many administrative roles in JNU such as warden, proctor, provost, member of Executive Council and Academic Council of JNU. Minz was dean of School of Computer and Systems Sciences during 2009 - 2011.[10] In 2018, she was elected president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers' Association (JNUTA), securing 344 out of 597 votes.[11][12]

On 27 May 2020, the Governor of Jharkhand, Draupadi Murmu appointed her as the vice-chancellor to the Sido Kanhu Murmu University in Dumka.[13][14] With her commitment to mainstream tribal languages, art and culture, new programmes such as Santal Culture Studies, certificate courses on tribal design, art and craft were offered in Sido Kanhu Murmu University, Dumka, Jharkhand. In 2022 at the Barcelona UNESCO Higher Education Conference, she participated in a session on Role of Tribal/Indigenous Knowledge in Higher Education.

After successful completion of her term as vice chancellor, Sido Kanhu Murmu University, Dumka, Jharkhand, in June 2023, Sonajharia Minz returned to her parent institution, School of Computer and Systems Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.[citation needed]

In July 2025, Minz was appointed as the UNESCO Co-Chair in Indigenous Knowledge, Research, Governance (IKRG) and Transformative Reconciliation for a four-year term, a position she holds jointly with Dr. Amy Parent from Simon Fraser University, Canada.[15]

## Selected publications

[edit]

* Ali Mohammed Al-Yarimi, Fuad; Minz, Sonajharia (18 December 2012). "Data Privacy in Data Engineering, the Privacy Preserving Models and Techniques in Data Mining and Data Publishing: Contemporary Affirmation of the Recent Literature". International Journal of Computer Applications. 60 (3). Foundation of Computer Science: 40–47\. doi:10.5120/9676-4103. ISSN 0975-8887.
* Abughali, Ibrahim K. A.; Minz, Sonajharia (2015). "Binarizing Change for Fast Trend Similarity Based Clustering of Time Series Data". Pattern Recognition and Machine Intelligence. Vol. 9124\. Cham: Springer International Publishing. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-19941-2_25. ISBN 978-3-319-19940-5.
* Kumar, Vinesh; Minz, Sonajharia (10 March 2017). "CCRA: channel criticality based resource allocation in cognitive radio networks". International Journal of Communication Systems. 30 (4). doi:10.1002/dac.3012. ISSN 1074-5351.
* Information, Communication and Computing Technology: Third International Conference, ICICCT 2018, New Delhi, India, May 12, 2018, Revised Selected Papers. Vol. 835\. Singapore: Springer Singapore. 2019. doi:10.1007/978-981-13-5992-7. ISBN 978-981-13-5991-0.
* Raj, Aditya; Minz, Sonajharia; Choudhury, Tanupriya (2024). "Spatial clustering-based parametric change footprint pattern analysis in Landsat images". International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology. 21 (6): 5777–5794\. doi:10.1007/s13762-023-05369-8. ISSN 1735-1472.
* Minz, Nirmal; Minz, Sonajharia (2007). Pearls of Indigenous Wisdom: Selected Essays from Lifetime Contributions by Bishop Dr. Nirmal Minz, an Adivasi Intellectual. Indian Social Institute & Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society, Bangalore. ISBN 978-81-89762-17-9.

## External link

[edit]

* Minz, Sonajharia (17 August 2023). "What freedom means to me as a tribal woman in academia". The Indian Express.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Natu, S.A. (2023). Psychology and Gender: An Advanced Reader. Taylor & Francis. p. 101\. ISBN 978-1-000-99094-2. "..in May 2020, Sonajharia Minz, professor at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru Univer-sity (JNU), was appointed vice chancellor of Sido Kanhu Murmu University in Dumka, Jharkhand."
2. ^ Pillai, Geetha Sunil (17 June 2025). "Rejected by English Medium School at 5, Dr. Sonajharia Minz Becomes India's First Tribal UNESCO Co-Chair". The Mooknayak. Retrieved 5 July 2025. "After successfully completing her tenure as VC in June 2023, she returned to her home institution, JNU's School of Computer and Systems Sciences."
3. ^ "Sonajharia Minz". Jawaharlal Nehru University. 5 July 2025. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
4. ^ Vincent, Pheroze L. (22 June 2025). "Digital cache on tribal languages in the works, says UNESCO co-chair Sonajharia Minz". Telegraph India. Retrieved 5 July 2025. "Sonajharia Minz — a JNU professor who was recently appointed Unesco co-chair in Transforming Indigenous Knowledge Research Governance and Rematriation.."
5. ^ Sharma, Kritika (2020-05-29). "My teacher once asked how could I be good in Sanskrit: Tribal woman scholar who's now a V-C". ThePrint. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
6. ^ "Sonajharia Minz Becomes The Second Tribeswoman To Be Elected As A VC". femina.in. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
7. ^ Barik, Satyasundar (11 July 2020). "My selection should not be viewed from a ghettoisation perspective: Sonajharia Minz". The Hindu. Retrieved 5 July 2025. "Minz got a mathematics degree from Women's Christian College, Chennai, then an MSc from Madras Christian College, and went on to complete her M.Phil and Ph.D. in computer science from JNU. She was a professor at JNU's School of Computer and Systems Science for 28 years before taking charge as SKMU's VC."
8. ^ "Tribal woman's appointment as vice chancellor hailed". 28 May 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
9. ^ "Dalit and tribal rights activist call for withdrawal of CAA in Budget session". National Herald. 16 January 2020. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
10. ^ Sarkar, Urvashi (20 March 2010). "JNU Academic Council meeting adjourned". The Hindu. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
11. ^ "JNUTA gets new president". The Hindu. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
12. ^ "Left panel sweeps JNU teachers' polls". The Times of India. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
13. ^ "Assumed to be Maid, Rebuked for Topping Class: New V-C of SKMU Recalls Racial, Caste Discrimination". News18. 2020-05-31. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
14. ^ "Jharkhand: Professor Sonajharia Minz appointed as Vice-Chancellor of Sido Kanhu Murmu University". Newsd.in: Latest News Today, Breaking News from India & World. 2020-05-28. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
15. ^ "Will work to better indigenous rights and knowledge system: Minz". The Times of India. 15 June 2025. Retrieved 5 July 2025.

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF

National|

* United States

Academics|

* ORCID
* Scopus
* zbMATH
* Google Scholar
* DBLP
* MathSciNet

Other|

* Yale LUX