Ohio State Elevates Provost Ravi Bellamkonda To Become Next President 

Following the resignation of former Ohio State President Ted Carter, the university has appointed Executive Vice President and Provost Dr. Ravi V. Bellamkonda to assume the role, according to a university source.

Bellamkonda was appointed by the university’s Board of Trustees and will become the Ohio State’s 18th president effective on Thursday. 

“Dr. Bellamkonda is well-positioned to lead this institution at a time when Ohio State continues to see record achievements both in terms of student success and impact in the many communities we serve,” said John W. Zeiger, chair of the university’s Board of Trustees. “Throughout his career in higher education, including his time at Ohio State, Ravi has proven to be an innovator as well as someone who cares for and builds trust with faculty, staff and students through collaboration and consensus-building.

Bellamkonda will replace Carter, who resigned on Monday following his disclosure of an “inappropriate relationship with someone seeking public resources to support her personal business.” 

In Bellamkonda’s role as provost, which he began in January 2025, he oversaw the deans of all 15 colleges, Ohio State’s four regional campuses and the university libraries, while working closely with the University Senate and other shared governance bodies. 

Bellamkonda said those efforts have helped build academic momentum that will remain a priority moving forward at Ohio State.

“Ohio State is a nation-leading academic powerhouse,” Bellamkonda said. “I understood very early on in my tenure as provost that this is a special place. Because of our teaching, scholarship and research, our scope and incredible reach, and the passion and commitment of our people and Buckeyes everywhere, we can do things other universities in this country, and around the world, simply cannot do.

“And as we look to the future, the university has a bold vision to further build that excellence at scale — with talented teams that execute at the highest levels across academics, student service, research, life-changing patient care and athletics. When we have excellence at scale, we create impact that is transformative. This is why what we do at Ohio State matters.”

Originally from India, Bellamkonda moved to the United States in the mid-1990s to pursue a master’s degree at MIT. He earned his bachelor’s degree in engineering from Osmania University and after his time at MIT, completed his PhD in medical science and biomaterials at Brown University. 

He began his academic career at Case Western as an assistant and associate professor before serving as the Wallace H. Coulter Professor, chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and associate vice president for research at Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory School of Medicine.

Bellamkonda later served as the Vinik Dean of Engineering at Duke University and provost at Emory. 

Bellamkonda also holds 11 U.S. patents, is a fellow of several scientific societies and served as president of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering.