John Felix Raj

Besides his educational initiatives, Dr. Raj is the recipient of fourteen awards including Banga Bibhushan and Siksha Ratna from the Government of West Bengal, and Nihil Ultra award from St. Xavier's College, Kolkata.[1][2][3]

Dr. Felix Raj has authored and co-authored ten books and has written numerous articles in journals, magazines and newspapers. His works include Disinvestment in India, Indian Economy – Economic Ideas, Development and Policies, WTO and Asian Union and Waves – A Story Bank.[4]

• He is the director and secretary of The Goethals Indian Library and Research Society which is a century old library with rare books and plates in Kolkata.[5]
• He was appointed member of the West Bengal Education Commission in 2014 by the Governor of West Bengal to prepare a Road Map / Vision Document for 2020 and 2030 of the state's education sector.[6]
• He contributed a lot to the management and organisation of the Bengal Economic Association (BEA) as its vice-President and Secretary respectively.
• He is the founder-president of SNEGAM, an NGO that provides quality education to the underprivileged children and promotes the education of female children.[7]
• His initiative, ‘College to Village and Village to College’ at SXC and SXU Kolkata, is an effort in transformative education. He believes that ‘Schools and colleges are the temples of wisdom and the villages are the temples of prosperity. When both meet, there is a constructive social revolution towards sustainable holistic development.’[8]
• He is the president of Jericho Training Centre for the differently abled and St. Joseph's Higher Secondary School, Nagamangalam, Trichy.

• Fr. Felix Raj spent 33 years at St. Xavier's College, Kolkata in various capacities. He had initiated five educational projects during his tenure as Principal of the college.
• He started a rural campus at Raghapur for St. Xavier's College, Kolkata which is 25 km from the city of Kolkata in South 24 Parganas. It was inaugurated in 2014.[9]
• He constructed twin hostels for boys and girls with 300 and 200 seats each which was inaugurated by Prof. Suranjan Das, VC of Calcutta University on July 5, 2014 at AJC Bose Road (Beckbagan) with the support of the alumni.[10]
• 150 years old Astronomy Observatory at St. Xavier's College Kolkata was fully restored and was dedicated on 10 March 2014 to the memory of Fr. Eugene Lafont, favourite teacher of Acharya Jadish Chandra Bose and father of Modern Science in India.[11]
• A campus of St. Xavier's College at St. Lawrence Higher Secondary School premises, Ballygunj, inaugurated in July 2015; it was discontinued from July 2017 in view of the new University.
• A new St. Xavier's College in Asansol, West Bengal, under Asansol Diocese, inaugurated by Dr. Partha Chatterjee, Education Minister in July 2015.
• St. Xavier's College, Kolkata secured the highest score of 3.77 CGPA out of 4 in the NAAC accreditation declared on 24 January 2017 under Fr. Felix Raj's committed leadership.[12]
• He introduced "College to Village and Village to College" Project at St. Xavier's College, Kolkata.
• He strengthened the Alumni Association of the college. He gave them space for their involvement and active participation in the college. He opened national and international chapters of the Association in various countries.

His dream of establishing a Jesuit university became a reality in 2013 when the Hon’ble Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee laid the foundation stone for the university on 23 December 2013 at Rajarhat.[13] On 15 December 2016, West Bengal Legislative Assembly passed the St. Xavier's University, Kolkata Act 2016, for setting up the St. Xavier's university and it became operational from 8 February 2017. On 16 January 2017, Governor K.N. Tripathi gave his consent to the Act.[14]

Father Felix Raj took over as the first Vice-Chancellor of St. Xavier's University, Kolkata from 16 February 2017.[15]

1. www.sxuk.edu.in
2. www.felixrajsj.com
3. www.goethals.in
4. www.sxcket.net
5. www.jerichocentre.org
6. www.sxccal.edu