Katepalli Sreenivasan Appointed President of NYU-Poly

Dr. Katepalli R. Sreenivasan, a distinguished experimental physicist whose research focuses on the behavior of fluids and turbulence, has been appointed as President of the Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly), effective immediately. 

NYU-Poly, one of the oldest engineering and technology schools in the US, has been affiliated with NYU since 2008, restoring engineering to NYU for the first time since the sale of NYU’s Heights Campus in the 1970s.  When the merger between the two institutions -- which will make NYU-Poly New York University’s school of engineering – is completed in 2014, Dr. Sreenivasan will be Dean of Engineering at NYU. 

“Sreeni came to NYU already possessing the respect of his colleagues in the scientific community for his scholarship, scientific accomplishments, and scientific leadership.  As a member of the NYU community, he has added to that reputation by proving himself such an effective leader and administrator, particularly in his assignments at NYU-Poly. He has brought great focus to the school’s advancement, and has set it on the right trajectory both in terms of its place in the field of engineering and within NYU,” said NYU President John Sexton. “His reputation and world view will help ensure that NYU-Poly achieves new heights in research, education, invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship.”

As president, Sreenivasan will continue to build NYU-Poly as a leader in engineering and technology, and will oversee the school’s transition to NYU’s school of engineering.  In this capacity, Sreenivasan will focus on the development of faculty, research, and educational programs at NYU-Poly, all in partnership with other centers of scientific research throughout NYU.  He will also lead all aspects of engineering at NYU.

Sreenivasan was appointed acting president of NYU-Poly in November 2012, following a 13-month term as the school’s provost. He joined NYU in 2009 from the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy, where he was director, and was concurrently on the faculty of the University of Maryland, where he was Distinguished University Professor, Glenn L. Martin Professor of Engineering and professor of physics, and director of the Institute for Physical Science and Technology.  Prior to that, he was at Yale for 22 years, where he was the Harold W. Cheel Professor of Mechanical Engineering from 1988, with joint appointments in the Departments of Physics, Applied Physics, and Mathematics.  Between 1987 and 1992, he was the chair of Yale’s Mechanical Engineering Department.  Sreenivasan is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Indian Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, and the African Academy of Sciences.

An active researcher, Sreenivasan will continue his work in turbulence, cryogenic helium and nonlinear dynamics, and will retain his NYU appointment as university professor, jointly in physics and mathematics.

He earned his B.E. (first rank) in mechanical engineering from Bangalore University, his M.E. (first rank) and Ph.D. (P.S. Narayana Medal) in aeronautical engineering from the Indian Institute of Science.

“I am excited to be part of NYU-Poly during its time of transformation, and look forward to continuing to work with its leaders, faculty, staff, and students to fulfill the promise that technology and education hold for addressing – through i2e – some of the world’s most pressing problems,” Sreenivasan said.

“Dr. Sreenivasan, an outstanding and internationally renowned scientific leader, will recruit excellent engineering faculty to NYU; further develop collaborations across the Global Network University; develop the engineering programs for NYU-Poly, NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU Shanghai; and substantially increase NYU’s research base in engineering and technology,” said NYU Provost McLaughlin. “We have every confidence that Sreeni will significantly advance NYU-Poly and, importantly, will also advance the University’s commitment to develop engineering at NYU through the development of NYU-Poly.”