Ms Madhupriya Jha Thakur is an Assistant Professor at the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Hyderabad, and currently serves as Coordinator, International and Domestic Linkages. She teaches in the Fashion Design and Accessories Design departments. Her teaching areas include Fashion Design Representation, Trend Studies and Forecasting, Headgear Design, Bag Design, Design Thinking, Design Methodology and Process, Costume and Textiles, and Leather Studies, including soft and hard goods. Her expertise includes semiotics, material culture, cultural studies, design history, design process, headgear, bag design, and leather product development. She holds a B.Des in Leather Design from NIFT and an MSc in Fashion Technology from Punjab Technical University.

She is pursuing her PhD at Banasthali Vidyapith, focusing on culture studies, material culture, cinema, and semiotics. Her research interests include Indian crafts, cultural traditions, drapes, and headgear. She has presented papers at national and international conferences and published in national and international journals. She serves as a reviewer for JATIR, AJAD, and IJIRT and reviews papers for IFFTI.

She served as a WorldSkills Fashion Design national jury member in 2014 and received Women Leadership and Swabhiman Khel Ratna awards. She is also a Madhubani artist and represented India in bodybuilding and powerlifting.