In her virtual address, Banerjee appealed to everyone to uphold the values of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore who had founded Visva-Bharati in 1921.
Mallik's appointment as the officiating vice-chancellor was announced on Wednesday after the tenure of incumbent vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarti ended.
Established in 1901 by the Nobel Laureate, Santiniketan was a residential school and centre for art based on ancient Indian traditions and a vision of the unity of humanity transcending religious and cultural boundaries.