Nirmala Rao (born 1959, Hyderabad, India) is a British academic and the current vice chancellor[1] of Krea University.

She also served as vice chancellor of the Asian University for Women, Chittagong, Bangladesh from 1 February 2017[2] to January 2022.

[4] She studied at Kendriya Vidyalaya Gill Nagar Kodambakkam, Chennai and competed her Higher Secondary there in the year 1976.

[5] Rao is a member of the Board of Trustees of the UK educational charity United World Schools.

[6] In the 2011 Queen's Birthday Honours, Rao was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her services to scholarship.