The University announced Wednesday Melur “Ram” Ramasubramanian has been appointed vice president for research. Ramasubramanian will succeed interim Vice President for Research Phillip A. Parrish, who has been serving in this role for two years.
Parrish will return to his previous position as associate vice president for research.
Ramasubramanian earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology in Durgapur, India, a masters from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and a Ph.D. from Syracuse University. He currently works at the National Science Foundation as program director for the Engineering Research Centers program and is the Department Chair of Mechanical Engineering at Clemson University.
University President Teresa Sullivan lauded Ramasubramanian’s expertise in an email sent to the University community Wednesday.
“Ram has accumulated a powerful combination of experiences as a world-class researcher, teacher and administrator,” Sullivan said. “He has served as a research university department chair and program director for one of the largest single center-level research funding mechanisms at the National Science Foundation. This experience will prove extremely valuable as Ram creates the collaborative and multi-disciplinary framework to further advance U.Va.’s research productivity.”
The role of the vice president for research includes overseeing the University’s collaborative research and scholarship portfolio across the 11 schools to determine the most optimal investment opportunities. Ramasubramanian will work with both deans and University faculty to further improve research conditions and to launch additional institutes here at University, similar to the Brain Institute and the Data Science Institute.
The University receives approximately $338 million in sponsored research and plans to increase the research volume by $200 million over the course of the next 10 years.
Dr. Richard Figliola, a colleague of Ramasubramanian’s at Clemson University, who is the acting Department Chair of Mechanical Engineering while Ramasubramanian is on leave at the National Science Foundation, said he believes Ramasubramanian is highly qualified for his new position.
“Ram is well versed in the current research priorities of the nation,” Figliola said. “He is particularly keen on manufacturing and knows the movers and shakers around the country who are well respected and can have an impact in that field.”
Figliola said he recently spoke with Ramasubramanian on the best way to approach his new role.
“The path … [is] start with and continue to hire good faculty, find the resources to invest and invest in faculty ideas, stimulate disruptive programs, get out of the way,” Figliola said.
Figliola also praised Ramasubramanian’s managerial ability, calling him a “big picture manager.”
In a release, Ramasubramanian said he is excited about joining the University community.
“Joining the University of Virginia is an immense honor,” Ramasubramanian said. “U.Va. was built on Thomas Jefferson’s burning desire to create and disseminate knowledge for the public good. I look forward to working with University leadership and the schools across Grounds to enhance the environment for our world-class researchers to make discoveries that will benefit the world as U.Va. enters its third century.”
Ramasubramanian will assume the position of vice president for research Aug. 8 and report directly to the President.
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