Indian American Pradeep Khosla named as Chancellor of California varsity

Indian American Pradeep Khosla, IIT alumni, has been named as the eighth Chancellor of the University of California (UC), San Diego.

Khosla, 55, is currently working as the Dean of College of Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University.

UC President Mark Yudof made the announcement of Khosla's appointment, which will be confirmed by the university Board of Regents on May 16, Lynn Tierney, UC’s vice-president of communications, told India-West.

Khosla is expected to be confirmed without opposition from the board, she said, adding that he will hold a press conference at the UC San Diego campus May 19 to discuss his new role.

Neither Yudof nor Khosla can comment on the appointment until after the May 16 confirmation, Tierney said.

"In slightly more than 50 years, UC San Diego, under the leadership of Marye Anne Fox and her predecessors, has become one of the world's top universities," Khosla said in a press statement.

"I feel fortunate, humbled and energised to have the opportunity to contribute to that excellence while embracing the challenges of integrating world-class research with an undergraduate educational experience that will remain accessible to all, regardless of family income," he said.

Khosla, originally from Mumbai, has earned his MS and PhD degrees in electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon in 1984 and 1986 respectively, after graduating from the Indian Institute of Technology with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1980 and working for two years in India as an engineer.

In addition to teaching, writing and undertaking research at Carnegie mellon, Khosla has served as the head of Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, director of the Information Networking Institute and founding director of the Carnegie Mellon CyLab and the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems.

He is the recipient of several international awards for his contributions to education and research.

He is the author of three books and hundreds of scholarly articles.