Suresh Garimella, PhD
2024 Distinguished Professor Award
Suresh Garimella serves as the 23rd president of the University of Arizona and University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, positions he assumed on October 1, 2024. He was unanimously appointed by the Arizona Board of Regents following a robust national search. On selecting Garimella to lead the university, Board Chair Cecilia Mata praised his collaborative leadership, experience, and vision, calling him a “tireless champion for students” who is well suited to lead the university into a bright future.
Previously, he was president of the University of Vermont (UVM) from 2019 to 2024. Under his leadership, the university underscored its reputation as a premier flagship research university dedicated to providing a world-class student experience and committed to fulfilling its land-grant mission, a focus he brings to the U of A as well.
Throughout his career, Garimella has emphasized the importance of access and affordability for students, and he has worked to promote excellence in the student learning experience. A professor of mechanical engineering, he is both a highly cited scholar and researcher and a passionate educator, mentoring over 90 graduate students and 50 post-doctoral scholars, 29 of whom were placed in prestigious faculty positions across the world. During his tenure as UVM’s president, he led an annual undergraduate seminar class devoted to engaging students in civil discourse on multifaceted contemporary issues.
As a researcher, Garimella has made seminal contributions to the field of electronics thermal management and energy efficiency at micro and nano scales, and in sustainable energy systems technology and policy. He is co-author of over 625 refereed publications and 16 issued patents, and he has been recognized as an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Garimella also has made important contributions in national and international policy matters. He serves as a member of the National Science Board, which oversees the National Science Foundation and acts as an independent body of advisers to both the President and Congress on policy matters related to science and engineering. He also chairs the research advisory board of Sandia National Laboratories, is a member of the board of directors at Modine and the executive committee for the Council on Competitiveness, and previously served as a Jefferson Science Fellow at the U.S. Department of State and as Senior Fellow for Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas.
Prior to his time leading the University of Vermont, President Garimella served at Purdue University as the Goodson Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Executive Vice President for Research and Partnerships. Under his leadership of Purdue’s $660 million research enterprise, the university achieved five consecutive record years in sponsored funding and seeded approximately 50 startups annually. He developed strategic and comprehensive partnerships with major corporations, NGOs, and national governments in Colombia, India, and the Middle East, conceived and implemented ambitious campuswide initiatives in life sciences and integrative data science, and oversaw Purdue’s Discovery Park, a unique set of facilities and institutes where the convergence of disciplines helped solve global challenges related to health and life sciences, sustainability, food, energy, and defense and security.
His educational background includes a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, an M.S. from The Ohio State University, and a bachelor’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.