| Suresh Garimella | |||||||||||||||
| Office: | 27rd President of the University of Vermont | ||||||||||||||
| Term Start: | July 1, 2019 | ||||||||||||||
| Predecessor: | Tom Sullivan | ||||||||||||||
| Birth Date: | 1964 or 1965 | ||||||||||||||
| Birth Place: | Nedunuru, India | ||||||||||||||
| Education: | IIT Madras (BS) Ohio State University (MS) University of California, Berkeley (PhD) | ||||||||||||||
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Suresh Garimella is an Indian American mechanical engineer and university administrator. He is the 27th president of the University of Vermont. Before assuming the presidency in 2019, Garimella was executive vice president for research and partnerships at Purdue University. On August 9, 2024, Dr. Garimella accepted the position of President of the University of Arizona.
Garimella was born in Nedunuru, Andhra Pradesh, India.[1] His parents did not have a college education.[2]
In 1985, he earned his B.S. in mechanical engineering from IIT Madras, which he has described as "much more intense than MIT."[3] He then received an M.S. from Ohio State University in 1986, followed by a PhD from University of California, Berkeley in 1989, both in mechanical engineering.[4]
At Purdue University, Garimella was executive vice president for research and partnerships and the Goodson Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering. He also served as Purdue’s chief global affairs officer. He was the founding director of the Cooling Technologies Research Center.
In 2018, Garimella was appointed as a member of the National Science Board by the Trump Administration.[5] He was named a Jefferson Science Fellow by the United States Department of State in 2010 in the Obama Administration. He has also was a Science Advisor in the International Energy Agency.[6]
Since July 1, 2019, Garimella has been the president of the University of Vermont.[7]
He has received criticism for the university's plan to terminate select humanities programs which led to the creation of UVM United Against the Cuts, where over 3,000 people voiced their lack of confidence.[8] His administration has faced pushback for its response to a Department of Education investigation into antisemitism on campus,[9] [10] and over the cancellation of a planned guest lecture by Palestinian author Mohammed El-Kurd.[11]
On August 9, 2024, Dr. Garimella accepted the position of President of the University of Arizona.[12]