NEW DELHI — Amartya Sen, the Nobel-winning economist and Harvard professor, confirmed on Friday that he would step down as chancellor of Nalanda University this summer, ending his role as head of an ambitious academic project he helped start last year.
Mr. Sen, in a letter to the university’s governing board that was published in the Indian news media, wrote Thursday that the president of India had failed to sign the renewal of his chancellorship, which the board unanimously approved a month ago. The delay, he said, is an indication that “that the government wants me to cease being the chancellor of Nalanda University after this July, and technically it has the power to do so.”
Mr. Sen also wrote that the government had indicated its intention to reconstitute the board, an action that he said would violate the parliamentary act governing the university.
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Mr. Sen said he did not know how his departure would affect plans for the university.
“Part of my sense of loss was that it had been a kind of dream of mine since the age of 11 when I first saw it,” he said. “I mean it may still happen, and I will do my best to help it.”
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