The Ohio State University Board of Trustees today appointed Ravi V. Bellamkonda as the 18th president in university history, effective immediately.
Bellamkonda, who trained as a bioengineer and neuroscientist through a PhD at Brown University and a postdoctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has served as Ohio State’s executive vice president and provost since January 14, 2025. Previously, he served as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Emory University and the Vinik Dean of the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University.
In his role as Ohio State provost, the university’s chief academic officer, Bellamkonda led a university-wide portfolio of programs and initiatives in the Office of Academic Affairs and Enterprise for Research, Innovation and Knowledge that support innovative and lifesaving research as well as faculty and student success in Columbus and on campuses across the state.
He played an integral role in crafting and leading early phases of the Education for Citizenship 2035 strategic plan through its core academic excellence initiatives aimed at enhancing student success, investing in faculty and strong programs, and advancing Ohio State’s leadership in artificial intelligence. Under his leadership, the university launched AI Fluency, a bold initiative to integrate AI into the undergraduate experience; a new Career Center of Excellence designed to better connect students with internships, jobs and success after graduation; and faculty hiring programs that are attracting top scholars to the university.
“Dr. Bellamkonda is well positioned to lead this institution at a time when Ohio State continues to see record achievements both in terms of student success and impact in the many communities we serve,” said John W. Zeiger, chair of the university’s Board of Trustees. “Throughout his career in higher education, including his time at Ohio State, Ravi has proven to be an innovator as well as someone who cares for and builds trust with faculty, staff and students through collaboration and consensus-building.
“We are pleased to welcome him to his new role as Ohio State’s 18th president.”
As a member of President’s Cabinet, Bellamkonda has worked closely with leaders of the Wexner Medical Center and Athletics, as well as administrative units including the offices of Administration and Planning, Student Life, Human Resources, External Affairs and Business and Finance.
He oversaw the deans of all 15 colleges at Ohio State, four regional campuses and University Libraries, working regularly with University Senate and additional shared governance bodies. That work and the momentum that it has helped build for the university in terms of academic excellence, Bellamkonda said, will continue to be the priority.
“Ohio State is a nation-leading academic powerhouse,” Bellamkonda said. “I understood very early on in my tenure as provost that this is a special place. Because of our teaching, scholarship and research, our scope and incredible reach, and the passion and commitment of our people and Buckeyes everywhere, we can do things other universities in this country, and around the world, simply cannot do.
“And as we look to the future, the university has a bold vision to further build that excellence at scale — with talented teams that execute at the highest levels across academics, student service, research, life-changing patient care and athletics. When we have excellence at scale, we create impact that is transformative. This is why what we do at Ohio State matters.”
At Emory, Bellamkonda launched and led several major initiatives, including faculty recruitment and retention efforts focused on arts and humanistic inquiry, and artificial intelligence in areas such as medicine, business, law and more. He helped lead the Student Flourishing initiative, which included curricular innovations, and the Emory Purpose Project focused on well-being and ethics.
As the engineering dean at Duke, he played a key role in launching two interdisciplinary institutes: the Duke Quantum Center and the Center for Advanced Genomic Technologies Also during his tenure, annual extramural research increased from $68 million to more than $100 million each year while the Wilkinson Engineering Building was designed and built.
Bellamkonda also previously served as the Wallace H. Coulter Professor and chair of the joint Department of Biomedical Engineering shared between Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University. He also served as associate vice president for research at Georgia Tech.
His appointment as Ohio State’s provost marked a return to Ohio as he began his career at Case Western Reserve University, where he served as an assistant and associate professor, and associate chair for graduate education.
Bellamkonda has a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Osmania University, and he is an internationally renowned biomedical researcher whose lab has invented novel approaches to treat pediatric and adult brain tumors. He won numerous honors from professional societies in biomedical engineering and biomaterials. Bellamkonda served as president of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering from 2014 to 2016.
In 2021, he received a National Institutes of Health Director’s Transformative Research Award for his work, supported by the National Cancer Institute. The tumor monorail device developed in his lab has been recognized as a breakthrough technology by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. He is the scientific founder of Exvade Bioscience, a startup that is pioneering first-in-human trials for the tumor monorail device. In December 2025, the first patients were enrolled in a Phase 1 clinical trial to evaluate the device, designed to safely monitor recurrent glioblastoma.
Additionally, Bellamkonda is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering; and Society For Biomaterials; as well as an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. He has been awarded 11 U.S. patents.
“We warmly welcome the appointment of Ravi Bellamkonda as Ohio State’s next president,” said University Senate Secretary Jared Gardner and Faculty Council Chair Valarie Williams in a joint statement.
“Working closely with him in his role as executive vice president and provost, we have seen firsthand his deep commitment to the academic mission of this university and to engaging with our shared governance structures and with our faculty, staff and student leaders.”
Added faculty representatives to the Board of Trustees Phillip Popovich and Eric Bielefeld: “We have been inspired by the vision and energy that Dr. Bellamkonda has brought to Ohio State as provost, and we are confident that he will bring those same qualities to the presidency. We look forward to continuing to work with him on behalf of the university and the state of Ohio.”
Bellamkonda and his wife, Dr. Lalita Kaligotla, clinical associate professor and senior director of leadership, policy engagement and innovation in the College of Nursing, are the proud parents of two adult children and C.J. the goldendoodle.
“Our family has found a home at Ohio State, and we are looking forward to doing hard things worth doing — together with this dynamic community of citizens. Our relentless pursuit of excellence has the power to transform the world starting right here in Ohio.”
Ohio State will announce plans for leadership of the provost’s office in the coming weeks.
