Rutgers University EVP of Academic Affairs Prabhas Moghe has been chosen as the sole finalist for the next presidency at the University of Texas at Dallas in a unanimous vote by the UT System board of regents. Rutgers is New Jersey’s flagship public university.

“The regents and I were very pleased with the extraordinary pool of candidates from top universities across the nation who expressed interest in coming to Texas to lead UT Dallas,” UT System Board of Regents Chairman Kevin P. Eltife said in a statement. “Dr. Moghe has a distinguished background as an educator, researcher and administrator. We’re delighted he will guide UT Dallas at it continues its great trajectory. We thank the search advisory committee and chancellor for the recommendations they brought forward.”

Would succeed Richard Benson

If appointed by regents after the state-required 21-day waiting period for sole finalists, Moghe would succeed Richard Benson, who announced in August his plan to transition back to a faculty role at UTD following the 2024-2025 academic year.

At Rutgers, Moghe provides strategic leadership over all academic and research operations across four chancellor-led campuses and 29 academic units.

Since assuming his current role in 2020, Moghe has helped lead Rutgers through a 40% increase in research funding (from $689 million to nearly $1 billion). Concurrently, Rutgers has gained in national prestige, moving up 22 slots to 15th among public universities in U.S. News & World Report’s rankings alone.

Moghe leads major strategic initiatives, including Roadmaps for Collective Academic Excellence, a university-wide convergence strategy promoting interdisciplinary programs and collaborative research in areas like AI, health, public policy, and business.

He also represents Rutgers to the Association of American Universities and serves as a senior member of the Big Ten Academic Alliance Board of Directors (chief academic officers).

Moghe previouisly was provost and executive vice chancellor for research and academic affairs at Rutgers–New Brunswick.

Moghe grew up in India, graduating from the University of Bombay with a degree in chemical engineering. He obtained his PhD in Chemical Engineering (Bioengineering) at the University of Minnesota and completed postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital prior to joining the Rutgers faculty in 1995.

The UT System said that Moghe’s candidacy was recommended to the board by a presidential search advisory committee, chaired by UT System Chancellor JB Milliken, which included representation from the UTD faculty, staff, students, alumni and community leaders, as well as UT presidents and regents.

“Dr. Moghe’s record of strengthening educational pathways and propelling research agendas forward reflect many of UT Dallas’s strengths and continued aspirations,” Milliken said in a statement. “He has a deep appreciation for UTD’s mission and extraordinary ascendancy among top universities.”

Benson presided over the university for nine years, a time that was noted by a successful era of impressive campus and academic growth.

The system said that over the last decade, UTD’s total research expenditures have risen from $98.6 million to $180.2 million. There has been more than 2 million square feet of new construction and 2023 saw student enrollment topping 30,000, an increase of 57% in the last decade.

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