Meet our College Masters Niky and Vikram

The current College Masters of Mercator College are Nicole and Vikram Unnithan.

Vikram was born in India to a Dutch mother and an Indian father. After spending his youth in India, he received his education in the Netherlands and the Republic of Ireland. After a brief career as Staff Geophysicist at an Oil Consultancy in the UK, he joined Jacobs University - then still IUB - in April 2004 as Assistant Professor of Geosciences in the School of Engineering and Science.

Nicole is German, born in the southern part of the country, namely Pfalz (Palatinate in English), a place probably most popular for its people's enormous interest in food and wine production. She's a historian with a Master's degree from the University of Heidelberg and is currently finishing her doctoral thesis in heritage studies.

Both of them have shared the experience of living abroad and this, together with their multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural background, is one of their most important assets in the position they're occupying.

(excerpts taken from Niky's Inauguration Speech during the Transition Ceremony)

As some Mercatorians may already know, Vikram and Niky have been close to Jacobs University and Mercator College for some time now. The proximity of their apartment (just across the fence from our terrace) allowed Vikram and Niky to take part in Mercator College social life and to follow the lives of its students from their window. Apparently they decided that they liked what they saw :-) and after inquiring about the requirements and going through all the necessary procedures, they have joined us at the beginning of Spring Semester 2007, with the official Transition Ceremony taking place on Februry 17th.

Expect the official message from our College Masters themselves, along with more pictures, to complete this short introduction very soon..