Three takeaways from The Lantern’s sit-down interview with newly named executive Vice President and Provost Ravi V. Bellamkonda

Lucy Lawler, Emma Wozniak
Tue, 15 Oct 2024 03:58:51 +0000
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University President Ted Carter Jr. (left) at the University of Iowa game Oct. 5. Credit: Carly Damon | Asst. Photo Editor
Ravi V. Bellamkonda (right) was named as Ohio State’s next executive vice president and provost Wednesday. Credit: Courtesy of The Ohio State University

Wednesday morning, Ravi V. Bellamkonda was named as Ohio State’s next executive vice president and provost.

Alongside university President Ted Carter Jr. and additional media representatives, The Lantern interviewed Bellamkonda about various topics — including his hiring process, goals for the university and opinions on artificial intelligence — Wednesday afternoon.

Here’s what Ohio State community members should know about Bellamkonda’s administrative approach before his appointment begins Jan. 14, 2025, pending approval from the Board of Trustees.

Bringing balance to Carter’s presidency

The designation of a new executive vice president and provost has been a long time coming. In fact, Carter said the university was “weeks away” from filling the position as early as April 11, per prior Lantern reporting.?

During a Sept. 11 interview with The Lantern, Carter said the university had been conducting interviews, and “sometimes being a little patient will get you the best answer.”

Before Carter assumed his presidential tenure Jan. 1, his lack of an advanced degree raised some concerns among Ohio State’s faculty and student body. Carter — who has a bachelor’s degree in physics and oceanography from the United States Naval Academy — previously said his ideal second-in-command would have “a more extensive academic background,” according to the April 11 Lantern report.?

“The provost search is the most important hire I’m making. I know who I am and what I am, and I know who and what I am not,” Carter said. “I do not come from the classically trained academic hierarchy. I need somebody that is that.”

During Wednesday’s interview, Carter said Bellamkonda’s academic expertise as a biomedical engineer, neuroscientist and researcher played a key role in his selection.

“His portfolio, his resume, is everything I was looking for,” Carter said. “Classically trained, classically educated, been all over the world, been at multiple campuses, both public and private. So, I couldn’t have actually written a resume for somebody that I was looking for better than Dr. Bellamkonda’s background.”

Bellamkonda, who began his teaching career as an assistant and associate professor at Case Western Reserve University in 1995, said he views Ohio State as “uniquely positioned” to be a leader in higher education.?

“I think I’m going to spend a little bit of time listening to the leaders here,” Bellamkonda said. “While I’m familiar with Ohio, I need to learn; every institution has its particular DNA, its particular ethos.”

Specifically, Bellamkonda said his primary focus at Ohio State is to “relentlessly pursue excellence,” which he believes is best accomplished through forging solid relationships with his community.

“In my experience, from the roles I’ve had, it always comes down to great people and figuring out a way to nurture, recruit, retain [and] empower people,” Bellamkonda said. “It’s always about people.”

In regard to his research-centric background, Bellamkonda said though Ohio State’s reputation is largely driven by “research excellence,” he wants to more narrowly examine specific departments or areas in which the university’s research can be further strengthened.

“What are the areas that we really lead the world in?” Bellamkonda said. “Perhaps the James is an amazing place in cancer research, and there are other places in social sciences and political science and elsewhere in arts, maybe. So, I would like to learn more in consultation with the president, and he will unveil the strategic plan. There will be elements of that that will be aligned, but I think the goal is to build excellence across the board, but also have a few spaces that we truly excel in the world and we lead.”

Addressing challenges in higher education

Bellamkonda shared his story as an immigrant who came to the U.S. in pursuit of higher education, leaving his family behind in the process. So, despite observing “an erosion of trust in institutions” across the country, he said his lived experiences prove that higher education is “a crown jewel in the world” — one that society should celebrate.

“The mission of higher [education], in my mind, is so noble, particularly a land-grant like Ohio State,” Bellamkonda said. “If you think about it, there are very few institutions in the world whose whole purpose is to investigate things we don’t yet know — whether it’s how the brain works or how to cure cancer, how we are organized as a people and as civic citizens, how we could be better, whether it’s for economic prosperity of our state.”

When asked about the COVID-19 pandemic’s lingering effects on today’s higher education landscape, Bellamkonda said recognizing that universities are more than just “purely credentialing [bodies]” is crucial.?

“My son was in college then, so I speak as a dad as much as I speak to you as a professor and educator; the actual curricular credentialing experience for a student — typically an undergraduate student — is maybe 20% of their experience in college,” Bellamkonda said. “A lot of it has to do with clubs, and their friends and community, and so to me, the lesson I take away is how important community is for our students, for our staff and for our faculty, and to lean into doing everything we can to build that and nurture that.”

Bellamkonda said in his mind, the university should care about “who” Ohio State students become just as much as “what” they become.

“That’s the other part that speaks to the whole student and [recognizes] that they’re not just consumers of an educational product that gives them a piece of paper — that’s not what we’re about,” Bellamkonda said. “We’re about a grander, more ambitious undertaking of shaping people. And yes, important skills are a part of that, but who they become is very important.”

Embracing artificial intelligence and preparing for Ohio State’s future?

Bellamkonda said he views AI as a “game-changing, transformative technology” that can be valuable if created and used responsibly. More specifically, he said people who possess a genuine passion for particular fields — like medicine, law and/or the arts — make for effective AI leaders at the collegiate level.?

“You don’t wake up thinking, ‘I care about AI,’” Bellamkonda said. “You care about cancer, you care about a more equitable world, you care about democracy, you care about these things. If we truly care about these things, we should use the best possible tools to advance those things.”

In this spirit, Bellamkonda said he believes Ohio State can be a leader in the AI industry, and he intends to have further discussions with university deans — specifically in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering — to learn more about how to do so.

“It would be crazy for us not to use AI to do that, and it would be even more irresponsible for us not to empower our students to be good users of AI to do the things they care about doing,” Bellamkonda said.