Professor Farrell, who was joined on his visit by Victorian Commissioner to South Asia Michelle Wade, met with LSR Principal Professor Suman Sharma at the school's South Delhi campus to recognise the significant 30th anniversary milestone.
The partnership, one of La Trobe’s longest standing in India, enables the exchange of students between the two institutions, provides LSR staff with professional development opportunities at La Trobe and supports opportunities in research and innovation.
Professor Farrell said La Trobe was proud of its continuing partnership with LSR as it aligned with the University’s goals to build inclusive communities, advance academic excellence and lead transformative change.
“Lady Shri Ram College is one of the most highly respected and successful institutions in India and we value the relationship we have forged over the past 30 years,” Professor Farrell said.
“What began in a modest meeting room at La Trobe University in 1995, has flourished into one of our University's most enduring and successful international partnerships.
“We look forward to developing and growing our partnership over the coming years as the two institutions continue to support women from diverse backgrounds to become tomorrow’s leaders.”
Professor Suman Sharma, Principal of Lady Shri Ram College for Women, extended a warm welcome to La Trobe’s Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Theo Farrell and Deputy Vice-Chancellor Future Growth, Dr Stacey Farraway, and gave special thanks to Victorian Commissioner Michelle Wade for joining them in celebrating thirty years of partnership with La Trobe University.
“Commitment, integrity and exchange of knowledge besides students’ welfare is the hallmark of our partnership with La Trobe,” Professor Sharma said.
“The long-standing partnership was renewed with fresh vigor in 2023. Among top universities which signed the bilateral Exchange Agreements, LSR was proud to be one of the Colleges which signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in presence of Hon’ble Minister of Education, Dharmendra Pradhan, Australian Education Minister Honourable Jason Clare, along with a senior delegation from the Education sector.
“La Trobe’s former Vice-Chancellor, Professor John Dewar, and I signed the Agreements marking the partnership between LSR and La Trobe. Today as we celebrate three decades of collaboration and exchange, we extend our commitment in the forthcoming years to education and multiculturalism in a global world.”
About Lady Shri Ram College for Women
Lady Shri Ram College was founded in 1956 by Sir Shri Ram, in memory of his wife.
It has grown from an initial 243 students and nine faculty members to become one of India's premier institutions for women's education.
This growth mirrors the evolution of the La Trobe’s partnership, which has facilitated the exchange of 63 students - 31 inbound and 32 outbound participants - making LSR the University’s most sought-after Indian exchange destination.
LSR’s mission is to empower women to assume leadership roles in a globalised, rapidly changing, technology-based nation and world.
Among its distinguished alumni are CFO and Managing Director of the World Bank Group, Anshula Kant; the First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Gita Gopinath; former Supreme Court of India Judge Indu Malhotra, filmmaker Deepa Mehta and Bollywood actress Aditi Rao Hydari.
Today's partnership operates within the broader framework of La Trobe's agreement with Delhi University, reflecting the complex interconnections of international education.
During his visit to India, Professor Farrell spoke at the QS India Summit 2025 in Goa, hosted by Ministry of Education, Government of India, with SRM Institute of Science and Technology, and at The PIE Live event in Delhi.
La Trobe University and India
- La Trobe University is ranked in the top 1 per cent of Universities worldwide
*Times Higher Education (THE), 2024, World University Rankings 2025; Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), 2024, Ranking Web of Universities
- The University has a proud record of educating students from India, with around 11,000 people born in India among our alumni.
- La Trobe University is one of the founding members of the Australia India Institute.
- The IIT Kanpur – La Trobe Research Academy was established in 2020.
- Asian Smart Cities Research Innovation Network (ASCRIN), was founded by La Trobe in 2019 and is now its single largest research internationalisation initiative with joint investment of more than AUD $43 million (Rs 235 crores). It is a partnership designed to improve sustainability, liveability and efficiency of Asian cities. Partners in the network include Tata Institute of Social Science; the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-K) and Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS-Pilani) which includes more than 250 researchers and over 70 joint-PhD projects.
- In 2024, the University announced that it would be establishing a Bio Innovation Corridor with India’s Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) and the Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre (BBC), to support the development of research and innovation.
- Dignitaries La Trobe University has hosted from the Indian subcontinent include Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi, Kapil Dev, Malaika Arora Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Rajkumar Hirani, Abhijat Joshi and, most recently, actor, producer and women’s equality advocate, Shah Rukh Khan.
- La Trobe offers the Shah Rukh Khan La Trobe University PhD Scholarship, providing a life-changing opportunity for an aspiring female researcher from India to make a meaningful impact in the world.
- La Trobe University is one of only two universities in Australia teaching Hindi, and the only Australian University to teach a subject on the history, music, and storytelling of popular Hindi cinema.
- The La Trobe Library collection houses more than 38,000 volumes of monographs, journals, magazines and government publications from India, one of the largest collections in Australia.
- La Trobe has been a proud sponsor of the Indian Film Festival in Melbourne since it began in 2010.
Photo caption: Lady Shri Ram College senior lecturer Dr Bhawna Jha; LSR Principal Professor Suman Sharma; La Trobe University Vice-Chancellor Professor Theo Farrell; Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice President Future Growth Dr Stacey Farraway; and Victorian Commissioner to South Asia Michelle Wade.
