Prabhas Moghe named sole finalist for UT Dallas presidency

A Bombay University alumnus, Moghe has a distinguished background as an educator, researcher and administrator

By Arun Kumar

Indian American academic Dr. Prabhas V. Moghe has bee named as the sole finalist for the next presidency at The University of Texas at Dallas by the The University of Texas System Board of Regents.

Moghe currently serves as the executive vice president for academic affairs (EVPAA) at Rutgers University, New Jersey’s flagship public university.

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“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 after a unanimous vote.

“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.”

At Rutgers, Moghe provides strategic leadership over all academic and research operations across four chancellor-led campuses and 29 academic units. Since assuming the role in 2020, Moghe has helped lead Rutgers through a 40% increase in research funding — from $689 million to nearly $1 billion, according to a university release.

Concurrently, Rutgers has gained in national prestige, moving up 22 slots to No. 15 among public universities in the U.S. News & World Report rankings alone.

As EVPAA, Moghe leads major strategic initiatives, including Roadmaps for Collective Academic Excellence, a university wide convergence strategy promoting interdisciplinary programs and collaborative research in areas such as artificial intelligence, 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).

Previously, Moghe served as provost and executive vice chancellor for research and academic affairs at Rutgers–New Brunswick. He 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 before joining the Rutgers faculty in 1995.

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

Moghe’s candidacy was recommended to the Board of Regents by a presidential search advisory committee, chaired by James B. Milliken, which included representation from the UTD faculty, staff, students, alumni and community leaders, as well as UT System regents and university presidents.

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