Suresh Garimella

Suresh Garimella is an American mechanical engineer and university administrator serving as the 23rd president of University of Arizona since 2024. Previously, Garimella was the 27th president of the University of Vermont. Before assuming the presidency in 2019, Garimella was executive vice president for research and partnerships at Purdue University.

Early life and education Garimella was born in Nedunuru, Andhra Pradesh, India. His parents did not have a college education.

In 1985, he earned his B.S. in mechanical engineering from IIT Madras. He then received an M.S. from Ohio State University in 1986, followed by a PhD from University of California, Berkeley in 1989, both in mechanical engineering.

Career

Purdue University At Purdue University, Garimella was executive vice president for research and partnerships and the Goodson Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering. He also served as Purdue’s chief global affairs officer. He was the founding director of the Cooling Technologies Research Center.

In 2018, Garimella was appointed as a member of the National Science Board by the Trump administration. He was named a Jefferson Science Fellow by the United States Department of State in 2010 in the Obama administration.

University of Vermont Garimella became the president of the University of Vermont on July 1, 2019.

He had received criticism for the university's plan to terminate select humanities programs which led to the creation of UVM United Against the Cuts, where over 3,000 people voiced their lack of confidence. His administration had faced pushback for its response to a Department of Education investigation into antisemitism on campus, and over the cancellation of a planned guest lecture by Palestinian author Mohammed El-Kurd.

University of Arizona On August 9, 2024, Dr. Garimella accepted the position of President of the University of Arizona. He assumed office on October 1, 2024. In April 2025, Garimella garnered national attention after implementing sweeping changes to the university’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, including removing several administrative DEI roles and eliminating references to DEI from institutional policy documents. The move was met with criticism from civil rights groups, student organizations, and faculty, who characterized the actions as politically motivated and aligned with broader national efforts to restrict DEI programming in public education.

Awards and honors In 2025, Garimella was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.