Pradeep K. Khosla became UC San Diego’s eighth Chancellor on August 1, 2012. As UC San Diego’s chief executive officer, he leads a campus with more than 35,000 students, six undergraduate colleges, five academic divisions, and five graduate and professional schools. UC San Diego is also home to the prestigious Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the UC San Diego Health System. With annual revenues of $4.3 billion in fiscal year 2015, UC San Diego is an academic and research powerhouse, with faculty, researchers and staff attracting more than $1 billion in research funding a year. The campus is the third largest employer in San Diego County and one of 10 campuses in the world-renowned University of California system.

Khosla initiated and led UC San Diego’s first-ever Strategic Plan, and recently launched the public phase of the Campaign for UC San Diego—an ambitious and bold $2 billion endeavor—aimed at transforming the university, physically and intellectually. Khosla has expanded college access and affordability for underserved populations, initiated interdisciplinary research initiatives to foster collaboration and solve societal challenges, and strengthened university and community relationships and partnerships. 

An internationally renowned electrical and computer engineer, Khosla previously served as Dean of the College of Engineering and Philip and Marsha Dowd University Professor at Carnegie Mellon University. He spent the majority of his career at Carnegie Mellon, rising through the ranks from his first position as Assistant Professor in 1986 to his appointment as Dean in 2004. From 1994 to 1996, he also served as a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Program Manager in the Software and Intelligent Systems Technology Office, Defense Sciences Office and Tactical Technology Office, where he managed advanced research and development programs.

Khosla is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Engineering and the American Society for Engineering Education. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Association for Advancement of Science, the American Association of Artificial Intelligence and the Indian Academy of Engineering. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Indian Academy of Science. Khosla is also the recipient of numerous awards for his leadership, teaching, and research, including the 2012 Light of India Award, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the George Westinghouse Award for contributions to improve engineering teaching. In 2012, he was named as one of the 50 most influential Indian-Americans by SiliconIndia.