University of New Haven Appoints Leading Scholar as Vice Provost for Research

Ronald S. Harichandran, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, who joined the University in 2011 as dean of the Tagliatela College of Engineering, is the first person to hold this position.

April 9, 2019

The University of New Haven announced today that Ronald S. Harichandran, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, a prominent scholar in civil and structural engineering who has published more than 125 journal and conference articles, will serve as the University’s first vice provost for research. Dr. Harichandran has served as dean of the University’s Tagliatela College of Engineering since 2011, and he will continue in that role moving forward.

Since joining the University, Harichandran has significantly grown the research profile of the Tagliatela College of Engineering. Under his leadership, the University of New Haven this year earned its first National Science Foundation Early Career Award, a prestigious honor given to emerging researchers at leading universities.

"Dr. Harichandran is a distinguished scholar, and his efforts have been instrumental in earning funding for and raising the visibility of the groundbreaking research that is taking place on campus," said University of New Haven President Steven Kaplan, Ph.D. "At this exciting and critical juncture, we are fortunate to have an outstanding institutional champion to advance our University-wide commitment to supporting and investing in the research activities of our faculty. Dr. Harichandran has strong credentials and experience to serve in this new role."

During his time at the University, Dr. Harichandran has served as the principal investigator or co-principal investigator for competitively awarded external grants totaling more than $1.6 million. He has authored more than two dozen journal and conference papers with University of New Haven faculty members and deans, and he has overseen patent activities. He was elected to the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering in 2014.

"Dr. Harichandran is a distinguished scholar, and his efforts have been instrumental in earning funding for and raising the visibility of the groundbreaking research that is taking place on campus."President Steven Kaplan, Ph.D.

As vice provost for research, Dr. Harichandran will oversee the Office of Sponsored Research, including intellectual property, patents, technology transfer, and research compliance matters. He will also advise the provost on internal research allocations and work to strengthen relationships with external funding sources.

Prior to his work at the University of New Haven, Dr. Harichandran spent 26 years at Michigan State University as a professor and department chair, teaching classes in structural analysis, design, dynamics, and probabilistic methods. He earned his master’s degree and Ph.D., both in civil engineering, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.