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Ramesh Kolluru, PhD

Dr. Ramesh Kolluru is the Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Economic Development at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette). He is a nationally recognized leader in science and technology, public-impact research, economic and workforce development, and innovation and entrepreneurship.
In his role as vice president since  2013,  he has established the overarching vision,  provided tactical direction, and developed strategic priorities and partnerships by working with the senior administration of UL Lafayette. His leadership efforts have galvanized the transition of the University into the prestigious Carnegie R1 Top-Tier University in 2021, for the first time in its 125-year history – a designation held only by the top 3%  of  US  universities.  UL  Lafayette has significantly expanded its regional,  national,  and global impact through research, innovation, and economic development. Under his leadership, UL Lafayette has increased its annual R&D expenditures from $62M in 2013 to $164M in 2020, a growth of 168%, while increasing its intellectual human capital (post-doctoral & research scholars) by 1678% and innovation outcomes (patents issued) by 1200%. He has served as UL Lafayette’s point person in helping recruit IT and biotech companies, helping create more than 2000 knowledge-economy jobs in the region. Under his leadership, UL Lafayette is focused  on discovery  and  dissemination,  embodied in its motto  of  being  committed  to  “Research for  a
Reason.”
He is a tenured Professor in the School of Computing and Informatics, with expertise in computing, health innovation, homeland security, emergency management, public-private partnerships, and data science. As a researcher, he helped establish major R&D centers in health innovation and disaster management and a data science center funded by the National Science Foundation. He has generated over $110M in funds from various federal and state agencies and industry. Given his national recognition as a leader in health innovation,  he was appointed Chief Innovation Officer for the US Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C, during 2019 and 2020. During his IPA assignment, he worked on expanding the role of data science, AI, and innovation in delivering health and human services to all Americans by the HHS. He was instrumental in developing a strategic roadmap for HHS to enhance open data and open innovation initiatives, in addition to expanding opportunities for upskilling the data science know-how of federal government workers. More recently, he has led the Governor’s efforts to combat COVID-19 by vaccinating students and at-risk populations. He is leading legislative efforts in Louisiana to develop a biomedical R&D and innovation corridor anchored in New Iberia.

Additionally, he has been reappointed by the FEMA Administrator to the National Advisory Council to serve a 2nd consecutive term. He has chaired the FEMA Vision 2045 Committee and now chairs the FEMA Climate Adaptation Committee. He has  served  as  a member  of  the Executive  Committee  of  the APLU  Council  for
Research, where he has been involved in advancing the public impact of research and safe and inclusive research environments. Governor Edwards appointed him as a  Commissioner of the Louisiana Cybersecurity Commission, where he led the development of Louisiana’s Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity Plan.
He serves as  Chairman of  Lafayette  Economic  Development  Authority,  Trustee of the  Lafayette  Public Innovation Alliance, and Executive Committee member of OneAcadiana to advance local and regional economic development  . He serves on the  Board of  Directors for  Ochsner  Lafayette  General. He  represents  the
University as a counselor of the  Oak  Ridge  Associated  Universities,  trustee of the  Southern  Universities Research Alliance, and a member of the Louisiana RESTORE Act Center of Excellence. Born and raised in  India, Dr. Kolluru has lived in Lafayette for over 25 years. Recipient of  the Governor’s
Technology Leader of the Year award in 2008, he is proudest of the title “Honorary Cajun” bestowed on him.

Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Economic Development
Director (2003- 2014), Center for Business & Information Technologies
Executive Director (2007-2014), National Incident Management Systems and Advanced Technologies (NIMSAT) Institute
Site Director (2012), Center for Visual and Decision Informatics

Research Interests: Control Systems, Health Informatics, Social Computing

Publications

  • Chang, Lin-Ching & Chu, Henry & Kolluru, Ramesh & Foo, Simon & Wu, Jerry & Szu, Harold. (2019). MOJABB-03-00094 3rd Wave AI. MOJ Applied Bionics and Biomechanics. 3. 10.15406/mojabb.2019.03.00094.