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Biography

Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Ramprasad “Ram” Balasubramanian, PhD, is a prominent researcher, public higher education thought leader, and proven strategic leader in academia.

With three decades of progressive experience in higher education, Provost Balasubramanian has worked tirelessly to improve academic offerings, increase the scope and reach of UMass Dartmouth’s research portfolio, expand opportunities for scholarly growth amongst faculty, and enhance student learning outcomes. He has authored numerous research articles during his career and secured more than $28M in research funding from agencies like the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, and the U.S. Department of Transportation. Provost Balasubramanian believes in the transformative power of public higher education to uplift communities, supply valuable research advances to society, and provide opportunities to all those seeking to improve themselves.

Dr. Balasubramanian’s research interests include Artificial Intelligence and Mobile Robotics, Computer Vision, Decision Support Systems, and Computing Education. His current focus of research in mobile robotics is in the area of Multi-vehicle autonomy, SLAM, and navigation-related issues of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles. Specifically, he has focused on multi-vehicle coordination on long-term undersea missions, strategies for consensus in communication-constrained environments, and autonomy. His work in decision support systems has involved integrating real-time data from Internet-of-things (IoT) sensors to measure subsurface temperature and moisture for the imposition of Seasonal Load Restriction in cold-weather regions. In 2019, he established the Marine and UnderSea Technology (MUST) Research Program to support the development of cutting-edge research of naval relevance and a highly skilled technical workforce in the marine technology areas. Working with NUWC and the government relations offices, he secured nearly $26M through the Office of Naval Research to support MUST.

Provost Balasubramanian has been a member of the UMass Dartmouth community since 2000 and has served in various faculty and administrative roles. Beginning as an Assistant Professor of Computer & Information Science, he was awarded tenure in 2006 and promoted to Professor in 2013. From 2013 to 2017, Balasubramanian served as Associate Dean of the College of Engineering, helping to develop interdisciplinary data science programs and leading the College through its ABET accreditation. In 2017, he served as Interim Dean. During that time, he established a student support center to improve advising and other student support, including peer mentoring. He worked with the departments to develop biomedical engineering, cybersecurity, and environmental resources engineering concentrations. Between 2020 and 2024, he served as the Chief Research Officer, during which the university saw unprecedented growth in intramural funding.