Professor Shashikala Gurpur

The Indian academic is a distinguished international scholar and the recipient of multiple awards for her leadership role in legal education and in women’s rights, gender equality and human rights.

Professor Gurpur is the director of Symbiosis Law School and dean of the Faculty of Law at Symbiosis International (Deemed University) in Pune, in western India.

She is a former member of the Law Reform Commission of India and a former Fulbright scholar and AHRB fellow in the UK.

She was previously awarded the Jean Monnet chair on EU climate justice law, governance, management and policy, funded by the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) of the European Union under the Erasmus+ programme.

She has has authored multiple publications, including her recent edited collection International Law in Pursuit of Global Justice: Reflections from Contemporary India (Routledge, 2025), which was launched at the Irish Centre for Human Rights in June.

Commenting on the appointment, Professor Gurpur said: “University of Galway is a top ranking university, and is home to the Irish Centre for Human Rights which is a global platform of dialogue between scholars and practitioners.

“It has inspired generations of students to pursue international law scholarship and to engage in human rights work globally.

“Being associated with the Irish Centre for Human Rights is a great honour, and an opportunity to reinforce our common heritage and history of resilience as we work together to reinvent the theory and praxis of human rights, responding to 21st century challenges.”

Professor Siobhán Mullally of the University of Galway said: “It is a great honour to welcome Professor Gurpur to the Irish Centre for Human Rights and School of Law.

“The appointment of Professor Gurpur as honorary professor reflects her international standing and outstanding contribution to legal education in India and globally. It builds on the success of our joint collaboration with one of India’s most prestigious law schools, Symbiosis Law School in Pune, led by Professor Gurpur.

“We look forward to continuing collaborations on pressing issues of climate justice, gender and human rights, and access to justice.”