Chakrabarti has a doctorate in physics from the University of Minnesota.
Kansas State University has named Indian American Amit Chakrabarti as its new dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Chakrabarti, a theoretical physicist with interest in soft matter and statistical physics, has served as interim dean of the college since February 2016. Prior to that, he was the head of the department of physics, and the William and Joan Porter chair in physics.
“I am excited to welcome Dr. Chakrabarti as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences,” April Mason, provost and senior vice president said in a statement. “He has shown remarkable leadership and valuable collaborative sills during his tenure at Kansas State University. Those skills will continue to benefit students, faculty, staff and alumni as the university progresses with its goal to become a Top 50 public research university by 2025.”
The College of Arts and Sciences is the university’s largest college with 24 departments, and a broad array of majors, secondary majors and minors spanning many disciplines. Chakrabarti, as dean, will be the college’s chief academic and administrative officer and will provide leadership and support to all undergraduate and graduate academic degree programs in the college.
“The College of Arts and Sciences is built on a solid foundation,” the statement published in the university’s official website quoted Chakrabarti. “With the college’s talented faculty and amazing students, we can make more opportunities available to K-Staters in research and education in the arts and sciences. I am honored to serve in this role to continue the college’s success in research, scholarship and diversity.”
The Kolkata-born Chakrabarti has a doctorate in physics from the University of Minnesota. He earned his master’s and bachelor’s degrees in physics from the University of Calcutta. He joined K-State in 1990 and was named a full professor in 2000.
He was the recipient of the Presidential Award for Outstanding Department Head in 2016 and the Presidential Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in 2002. He also received K-State’s 2009 Commerce Bank Distinguished Graduate Faculty Award, which recognizes quality research and advising of graduate students. Chakrabarti is also a two-time winner of the Stamey Award for Teaching Excellence from the College of Arts and Sciences.
Chakrabarti has published more than 150 peer-reviewed papers and mentored eight doctoral students and several post doctoral fellows. His individual and collaborative research projects have received extramural funding from agencies such as NASA and the National Science Foundation.