Katepalli R. Sreenivasan

Katepalli R. Sreenivasan is an engineer whose research includes physics and applied mathematics. He studies turbulence, nonlinear and statistical physics, astrophysical fluid mechanics, and cryogenic helium. He is the dean of engineering and executive vice provost for science and technology of New York University. Sreenivasan is also the Eugene Kleiner Professor for Innovation in Mechanical Engineering at New York University Tandon School of Engineering, and a professor of physics and mathematics professor at the New York University Graduate School of Arts and Science and Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences.

Sreenivasan earned his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE), Bangalore University in 1968. He attended the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, where he was awarded a master's degree in 1970 and doctorate in aerospace engineering in 1975. His post-doctoral research was at the University of Sydney, the University of Newcastle, and Johns Hopkins University. Sreenivasan was awarded a Honoris Causa master's degree from Yale University in 1985. In 2006, he was awarded a Honoris Causa doctorate from University of Lucknow. He received a Honoris Causa doctorate from the University of Hyderabad in 2007, and from the Romanian Academy in 2008.

In 1979, he joined the faculty at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut as assistant professor. In 1985, he became a full professor. Sreenivasan became chairman of Mechanical Engineering in 1987. He was appointed the Harold W. Cheel professor of mechanical engineering in 1988. In 1989, Sreenivasan was named acting chairman of the council of engineering. He became the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in 1991. He also served as professor of physics, applied physics and mathematics. In 1991, Sreenivasan was appointed to the Society of Scholars for Johns Hopkins University. At the American Physical Society (APS), he served as the chair of the Division of Fluid Dynamics, and the founding chairman of the Topical Group in Statistical and Nonlinear Physics. In 1995, he was awarded the APS Otto Laporte Memorial Award. In 1997, Sreenivasan became an American citizen.

In 2002, he joined the University of Maryland, College Park and became director of the Institute for Physical Sciences and Technology, which is a part of the University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences. That same year, Sreenivasan was named director of the Abus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy where he held the Abdus Salam Honorary Professorship. He started the position in March 2003. While working at ICTP he continued to hold his appointment at the University of Maryland as Glenn L. Martin Professor of Engineering and professor of physics.

Also in 2002, he received the Medal in Engineering Sciences from the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World. In 2008, the American Physical Society awarded him the Dwight Nicholson Medal for human outreach. In 2009, he was awarded the American Association for the Advancement of Science International Scientific Cooperation Award. He received the 2011 Multicultural Leadership Award of the National Diversity Council. He was also awarded the UNESCO Medal for promoting international scientific cooperation and world peace from the World Heritage Centre in Italy.

From 2009 until 2011, Sreenivasan served as senior vice provost for New York University’s Global Network University in science and technology. In 2007, Sreenivasan was elected to be a member of the National Academy of Sciences. In November 2012, he was appointed acting president of the Polytechnic Institute of New York University. He became president and dean of the Polytechnic Institute of New York University and dean of engineering at New York University (NYU), and oversaw the Institute's merger with NYU to become the New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering. He is also the executive vice provost in charge of science and technology at NYU. Sreenivasan is the Eugene Kleiner Professor for Innovation in Mechanical Engineering at New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering, and a professor of physics and mathematics professor at the New York University Graduate School of Arts and Science and Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences.

Sreenivasan has been a visiting professor at the California Institute of Technology, Rockefeller Institute, the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University, the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge, and the Texas A&M University Institute of Advanced Study. Sreenivasan is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is a member of the Indian Academy of Sciences, the Indian National Science Academy, the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, the African Academy of Sciences, and the Accademia die Lincei in Italy.

He has served on scientific journal editorial boards including American Scientist, Physics of Fluids, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Physical Review E, Physical Review Letters, Journal of Theoretical and Computational Fluid Dynamics, and the Springer book series on Applied Mathematics. Sreenivasan is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Nonlinear Science.