| Nirmala Rao | |
| Honorific Suffix: | OBE FAcSS |
| Birth Place: | Hyderabad, India |
| Occupation: | academic |
| Spouse: | Dr Guduru Gopal Rao |
| Awards: | OBE, FAcSS |
| Alma Mater: | Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Queen Mary University of London |
| Thesis Title: | The Changing Role of the Councillor in British Local Government: An Empirical Analysis |
| Thesis Url: | https://www.researchgate.net/publication/34745992_The_changing_role_of_the_councillor_in_British_local_government_an_empirical_analysis |
| Thesis Year: | 1993 |
| Discipline: | political scientist |
| Workplaces: | Krea University, Goldsmiths' College, SOAS, Asian University for Women |
Nirmala Rao (born 1959, Hyderabad, India) is a British academic and the current vice chancellor[1] of Krea University. She also served as vice chancellor of the Asian University for Women, Chittagong, Bangladesh from 1 February 2017[2] to January 2022.[3] and as Pro-Director of the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London from 2008 to 2016.[2]
Rao was born in 1959 in Hyderabad, India.[4] She studied at Kendriya Vidyalaya Gill Nagar Kodambakkam, Chennai and competed her Higher Secondary there in the year 1976.
Rao served as a Governor of Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance.[5]
Rao is a member of the Board of Trustees of the UK educational charity United World Schools.[6]
In the 2011 Queen's Birthday Honours, Rao was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her services to scholarship.[7] She was elected Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in 2003.[8]