NEW YORK, June 17: Prof Anantha Chandrakasan has been named Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s new provost, the first Indian-American to serve in this leadership role.
Chennai-born Chandrakasan, who is MIT’s chief innovation and strategy officer and Dean of Engineering, will begin his new role on July 1.
MIT President Sally Kornbluth, in making the announcement, said that Chandrakasan was chosen from a group of outstanding internal candidates and brings to this post an exceptional record of shaping and leading important innovations for the Institute.
The MIT provost is the institute’s chief academic and budget officer, with a wide-ranging portfolio that encompasses everything related to faculty, oversight of the educational enterprise and prime responsibility for MIT’s strategic planning.
In a statement from MIT, Chandrakasan said he is “deeply honoured” to take on the role of provost.
“Looking ahead, I see myself as a key facilitator, enabling faculty, students, postdocs, and staff to continue making extraordinary contributions to the nation and the world,” he said.
Kornbluth noted that Chandrakasan steps into the provost’s role at a “perilous” time for MIT when some of its most basic operating assumptions – including MIT’s ability to count on extensive federal support for its mission of research, education and innovation, and to attract and retain superb talent from around the world – are now uncertain.
“In a time of such intense pressure and potentially historic change, I am particularly grateful that we will be able to draw on Anantha’s depth and breadth of experience; his nimbleness, entrepreneurial spirit and boundless energy; his remarkable record in raising funds from outside sources for important ideas; and his profound commitment to MIT’s mission,” she said.
The Consulate General of India in New York congratulated Chandrakasan on his appointment as Provost of MIT, noting that he is the first Indian-American to have achieved this feat.
“A distinguished academic and leader, Prof Chandrakasan has remained a strong advocate of India-USA technological & R&D collaboration; has been working with various Indian government and private sector stakeholders towards this objective. We wish him all success in this important responsibility,” the Consulate said.
“In short, the job truly could not be more central to MIT’s present and future vitality,” Kornbluth said.
The provost also oversees several affiliated institutes and units and leads a team of vice provosts responsible for the arts; campus space management and planning; faculty; international activities; and Open Learning.
Chandrakasan has served as the dean of the School of Engineering since 2017 and as MIT’s inaugural chief innovation and strategy officer since 2024.
Prior to becoming dean, he headed the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), MIT’s largest academic department, for six years. Kornbluth said she had chosen him as MIT’s inaugural chief innovation and strategy officer (CISO) because of his “can-do attitude, creativity, enthusiasm, strategic insight, fluency across a wide range of subject areas, and gift for engaging industry allies and donors.”
Chandrakasan succeeds Cynthia Barnhart, who announced her decision to step down from the role in February.
As MIT’s chief academic officer, Chandrakasan will focus on three overarching priorities: understanding institutional needs and strategic financial planning, attracting and retaining top talent, and supporting cross-cutting research, education, and entrepreneurship programming, the MIT statement said.
“Recognising that each school and other academic units operate within a unique context, I plan to engage deeply with their leaders to understand their challenges and aspirations. This will help me refine and set the priorities for the Office of the Provost,” Chandrakasan said.
Chandrakasan also plans to establish a provost faculty advisory group to hear on an ongoing basis from faculty across the five schools and the college, as well as student/postdoc advisory groups and an external provost advisory council, he said adding that his goal is to continue to facilitate excellence at MIT at all levels, it said.
“There is a tremendous opportunity for MIT to be at the centre of the innovations in areas where the United States wants to lead. It’s about AI. It’s about semiconductors. It’s about quantum, biosecurity and biomanufacturing space — but not only that,” Chandrakasan said in the MIT statement.
“We need students who can do more than just code or design or build. We really need students who understand the human perspective and human insights. This is why collaborations between STEM fields and the humanities, arts and social sciences, such as through the new MIT Human Insights Collaborative, are so important,” Chandrakasan said.
Chandrakasan earned his BS, MS, and PhD in electrical engineering and computer sciences from the University of California at Berkeley. After joining the MIT faculty, he was director of the Microsystems Technology Laboratories (MTL) from 2006 until he became the head of EECS in 2011. (PTI)