The University of Texas Permian Basin announced Wednesday that Rajalingam Dakshinamurthy has been named the new Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs.
Dakshinamurthy has been serving as the interim Provost for the last seven months. He came to UTPB in 2020 as the Associate Vice President of Research and Dean of Graduate Studies. In addition, he also served in multiple administrative roles, including Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and College of Health Science.
“I am honored to have been selected to serve as the Provost at UT Permian Basin,” Dakshinamurthy said in a news release. “I have an unwavering commitment to lead by example and build strong partnerships that mutually benefit and expand the university’s role in fostering and supporting our students, faculty, and staff and UTPB’s strategic plan and goals.”
UTPB President Sandra Woodley is looking forward to having Dakshinamurthy serve in the critical role of chief academic officer.
“His commitment to our academic excellence at UTPB is inspiring. Our students, faculty, and staff will benefit from his leadership, experience, and passion for student success,” Woodley said in the release. “Since arriving at UTPB more than three years ago, Dr. Dakshinamurthy has continued to display a commitment to our academic success and the critical role our faculty and staff play in those objectives — a key attribute that will serve him and the university moving forward in his new position.”
As Provost, Dakshinamurthy will serve as the Chief Academic Officer, the second executive in charge. He will lead the five academic colleges which have upwards of 70 undergraduate and graduate degree programs and certificates.
Over the past 10 years, Dakshinamurthy served in various administrative roles, including vice president for research, academic dean, graduate dean, executive director of research and sponsored program, graduate program director, and assistant department chair. He earned a bachelor’s degree and a dual Master of Science and Philosophy in Chemistry from St. Joseph’s College in India. He earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry and structural biology from the University of Arkansas. He has been recognized several times for excellence in teaching, research, and professional service.
He is a bioanalytical chemist by training, spending his professional career researching protein structure and function, drug discovery, and biological nanomaterials. As a researcher, he published over 40 publications in high-impact journals and 350 research presentations related to the field of biomedical sciences. Additionally, he secured a patent for synthesizing gold nanoparticles capped with drugs. As an investigator, he received more than $10 million in external grants. He’s served as a faculty member at two different institutions and served on several professional organizations.
