Melur K. “Ram” Ramasubramanian

Melur K. “Ram” Ramasubramanian is provost and executive vice chancellor for Academic Affairs and serves as the president of the SUNY Research Foundation. In this capacity, he collaborates with SUNY stakeholders including campus presidents, provosts, vice presidents for research and economic development, deans, faculty, students, and leadership within the SUNY System and Research Foundation.

Ramasubramanian’s primary goal is to drive the implementation of innovative programs, initiatives, policies, and infrastructure that support SUNY’s academic mission and research objectives, aligning with the chancellor’s strategy of excellence, accessibility, and affordability across all SUNY academic programs.

Before joining SUNY System Administration, Ramasubramanian served as the vice president for Research at the University of Virginia starting in 2017. His career trajectory includes pivotal roles such as the program director for the Engineering Research Centers program and the lead program director for the Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship program at the National Science Foundation (2009 – 2012) at the National Science Foundation.

His extensive professional journey features significant contributions including holding the position of D.W. Reynolds Distinguished Professor and department chair of mechanical engineering at Clemson University, where he also held a joint appointment as a professor of bioengineering. Before this, he was a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University and held research roles at the James River Corporation (now Georgia-Pacific) and Syracuse University.

Ramasubramanian's research interests span a wide interdisciplinary spectrum encompassing engineering, biology, physical sciences, and medicine. His work delves into diverse areas such as mechanics of manufacturing processes, constitutive models for short fiber composites, biomanufacturing and tissue engineering, scalable microfluidics, biomimetics, mechatronics, and biomedical devices. His contributions to the field have been extensively published in engineering and biomedical journals, and he has served as an associate editor for IEEE Access: The Multidisciplinary Open Access Journal. He continues his research pursuits in tissue engineering, advising a Ph.D. student at the University of Virginia.

He received a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from the National Institute of Technology in India, an M.S. from Miami University, and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Syracuse University. He is a fellow of ASME, TAPPI, AIMBE, and a senior member of IEEE.

Beyond his professional endeavors, Ramasubramanian cherishes time spent with his family engaging in high-altitude mountain climbing, hiking, skiing, and outdoor activities. He and his family also share a passion for global travel experiences.