Dr. Nagi Naganathan is an alum of the National Institute of Technology at Tiruchirappalli.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: Dr. Nagi Naganathan is currently serving as the interim President of the University of Toledo, after having been appointed by the school’s Board of Trustees to a term that began at the start of July.
Naganathan joins a small but growing list of Indian Americans at the helm of colleges and universities across America. These names include Renu Khator at the University of Houston, and Subra Suresh and Carnegie Mellon University. Naganathan has been with the University of Toledo for almost 20 years, filling a variety of roles at the esteemed Kansas institution.
He joined the school as its Interim Chair of Mechanical Engineering, filling that role for nine months between 1994 and 1995. He then became the Chair of the Department of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering, a position he held for five years.
In 2000, he became the Interim Dean of the School of Engineering, a position he held until 2003, at which point he became the permanent Dean of the School of Engineering. He also joined the faculty proper, teaching as well as keeping up with his administrative duties.
Naganathan earned his B.E. with Honors in Mechanical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology at Tiruchirappalli, then came to the US for his MSME in Mechanical Engineering, which he earned at Clarkson University. He then earned his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Oklahoma State University. Before joining the University of Toledo, he worked briefly as a design engineer for Ashok Leyland.
Naganathan has a number of journal publications to his name, and has been responsible for creating accredited Ph.D. programs, raising donor funds, starting K-12 initiatives, and raising the University of Toledo’s Engineering Graduate Program into the Top 20 within the US during his time at the school, according to his personal website.
There is no word yet on how long Naganathan will be leading the University of Toledo, but the school is currently looking for a full-time replacement after former President Lloyd Jacobs left to become a Distinguished Fellow with the Council of Competitiveness in Washington, DC.
1 Comment
My hearty congratulations to Dr Nagi Naganathan for his elevation as the President of University of Toledo.As I hail from Trichy I feel happy.I wish him well.