Padma Raghavan, vice provost for research and innovation, has been named by the American Association of Universities to a task force that will explore university partnerships between the U.S. and India.
The AAU task force was established in concert with the Biden administration’s U.S.-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology, which seeks to grow technological and industrial collaboration between the two nations, according to a release.
“International collaboration is essential for education and research that address the most urgent challenges facing humanity,” Chancellor Daniel Diermeier said. “As part of the ongoing expansion of our working relationships in India and around the world, Vanderbilt is proud to join this effort to realize even more of the promise of U.S.-India collaborations.”
The task force will determine key focus areas for bilateral research and education, identify existing programs that could be models for future partnerships, and form strategies on how best to move forward.
“The U.S.-India university partnerships are essential for the greater global good,” Raghavan said. “Along with my colleagues, I look forward to shaping next steps by building on the productive collaborations between Indian institutions at Vanderbilt and our AAU universities.”
“It is nearly impossible in today’s world to make advancements in scientific research and technology without international collaboration and cooperation,” AAU President Barbara R. Snyder said. “This is why the Association of American Universities is proud to lead this effort to strengthen relationships between leading U.S. and Indian research universities and to lay the groundwork for shared future scientific and economic success.”
The task force will be chaired by Pennsylvania State University President Neeli Bendapudi, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Chancellor Robert J. Jones, University of California San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla, University at Buffalo President Satish K. Tripathi and incoming Tufts University President Sunil Kumar. Task force members include:
- Heidi Arola, director of global partnerships and director of the Purdue-India Partnership, Purdue University
- Venkataramanan “Ragu” Balakrishnan, dean of engineering, Case Western Reserve University
- Ravi V. Bellamkonda, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, Emory University
- Roger Brindley, vice provost for global programs, Pennsylvania State University
- Venu Govindaraju, vice president for research and economic development, University of Buffalo
- Amita Gupta, director, Division of Infectious Diseases, Johns Hopkins University
- Rajesh K. Gupta, professor and Qualcomm Endowed Chair, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California San Diego
- Katie Hrinyak, associate vice president for global initiatives and strategy, University of Chicago
- Pradeep Khanna, executive associate vice chancellor for corporate relations and economic development, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Pramod Khargonekar, vice chancellor for research, University of California Irvine
- Richard Lester, associate provost for international activities, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Stephen D. Mull, vice provost for global affairs, University of Virginia
- Ramamoorthy Ramesh, vice president for research, Rice University
- Yannis C. Yortsos, dean of engineering, University of Southern California