Suresh V. Garimella


Biography:

Mechanical Engineering
B.S., Indian Institute of Technology Madras
M.S., The Ohio State University
Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley

 

Suresh Garimella is President of the University of Vermont and formerly Purdue University's inaugural Executive Vice President for Research and Partnerships and the Goodson Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering.

Under his leadership, the university has experienced consecutive record years in research funding and established significant new partnerships around the world. Garimella conceived and implemented an ambitious Life Sciences Initiative, establishing two new institutes that bring together faculty from dozens of disciplines to study integrative neuroscience and inflammation, immunology and infectious disease, to complement signature efforts in the plant sciences and drug discovery. Garimella also partnered with the Provost to initiate the Integrative Data Science Initiative, which is focused on applying data science research to pressing fundamental and socially relevant issues while establishing an educational ecosystem of data fluency to prepare students for the rapidly expanding future of a data-driven, knowledge economy.

The co-author of over 525 widely cited archival publications and 13 patents, Garimella is an expert in micro- and nano-scale transport phenomena, thermal management and energy efficiency in electronics systems, and renewable and sustainable energy systems technology and policy. He continues to direct the Cooling Technologies Research Center, a graduated National Science Foundation I/UCRC which he founded in 1999. He has supervised over 90 graduate students, 25 of whom are now faculty members in prestigious universities.

Garimella served as a Jefferson Science Fellow at the U.S. Department of State from 2010 to 2011, analyzing cross-cutting issues at the intersection of energy security and climate change. He was a State Department delegate to the International Energy Agency (IEA). From 2011 to 2016, Garimella was a senior fellow of the State Departments Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA), a regional partnership announced by President Obama to promote clean energy, advance energy security, fight energy poverty, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, support strategies for sustainable landscapes and build capacity for climate change adaptation.

Garimella serves in editorial roles with leading energy-related journals. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). He has held honorary faculty positions at the Technical University of Darmstadt, Xian JiaoTong University, and the University of New South Wales. Garimella is a member of the board of directors of Modine Manufacturing Company.

His efforts in research and engineering education have garnered him numerous awards, including the 2016 ITHERM Achievement Award, 2014 ASME Charles Russ Richards Memorial Award, 2011 NSF Alexander Schwarzkopf Prize for Technological Innovation, 2010 ASME Heat Transfer Memorial Award, 2010 Distinguished Alumnus Award from IIT Madras, 2009 ASME Allan Kraus Thermal Management Award, and the 2004 ASME Gustus L. Larson Memorial Award. Within the university, he has been recognized with the 2012 Provosts Award for Outstanding Graduate Mentor, 1995 Graduate School/UWM Foundation Research Award for Outstanding Research and Creative Activity, and the 1997 UWM Distinguished Teaching Award.

The University of Vermont has selected Garimella to be their next President effective July 1, 2019.

Garimella was appointed to the National Science Board in 2018.