March 11, 2026Updated March 12, 2026, 9:39 a.m. ET
Less than every week after its last president resigned under controversy, Ohio State University has appointed a brand new everlasting chief.
Ravi Bellamkonda, who had been Ohio State’s govt vice president and provost, will take over as the college’s 18th president. The college’s board of trustees unanimously permitted Bellamkonda’s appointment at a gathering on March 12.
“The right leader is already at our university – and his vast experience, his personal values and management skills, and strong record at Ohio State and his ability to inspire excellence in all those around give the board of trustees great confidence that Ravi Bellamkonda is the right person to lead this university into the future as our president,” board chair John Zeiger mentioned.
Trustees met on the Longaberger Alumni House to approve Bellamkonda’s appointment in the identical room the place every week in the past to the day it held its final full public board assembly with former President Ted Carter.
After simply over two years on the helm, Carter resigned from the presidency over the weekend after admitting to Ohio State’s Board of Trustees he had an inappropriate relationship with “someone seeking public resources to support her personal business,” based on a college assertion. An unnamed tipster got here to the trustees someday after final week’s board assembly, which led to trustees calling a uncommon three-hour govt session on March 7. Carter confirmed the connection and supplied to resign, based on college spokesperson Ben Johnson.
Zeiger mentioned the board was “grateful” to Carter however was caught off guard by the revelations that led to his resignation.
“As you might imagine, the board was surprised, deeply disappointed to learn of that situation and distressed to consider its consequences to the university,” Zeiger mentioned. “We respect Ted’s decision to resign and appreciate his cooperation in supporting the orderly leadership transition that is now unfolding.”
That transition will probably be to Carter’s proper hand on the helm of one of many nation’s largest college’s. Bellamkonda formally began his tenure as provost in January 2025. Carter spent practically a 12 months looking for a everlasting provost, calling it “the most important hire I’m making.”
In remarks after his appointment, Bellamkonda mentioned the “special sauce” of Ohio State was the “incredible civic community” backing the college.
“What binds this wide cross-section of our community is their love for Ohio State and, importantly, their recognition that Ohio State as the flagship land grant university plays a critical role in our state economy, and they recognize the power of Ohio State to positively impact the citizens of this great state,” Bellamkonda mentioned.
Bellamkonda mentioned Ohio State has a job in making Ohio “the most dynamic economy in the country.”
“We often hear that Ohio State is a large place, one of the largest universities in the country, and that we are. But consider this, when excellence happens at the scale of Ohio state, we create an impact that is unmatched in its transformative power,” he said.
Between his background as a bioengineer and neuroscientist, his experience teaching and leading at both private and public universities, and having come into the role at Ohio State as a sitting provost, Carter previously told The Dispatch that Bellamkonda was everything he was looking for.
As Ohio State’s provost, Bellamkonda oversaw the university’s portfolio of programs and initiatives in the Office of Academic Affairs that supports faculty and student success across its six campuses. The deans of all 15 academic colleges and university libraries report to the provost, who also serves as a member of the president’s cabinet.
Bellamkonda moved to the United States from India to pursue a master’s program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the mid-1990s, traveling 8,000 miles away from home for higher education.
He got his start in academia in Ohio. After graduating from Brown University with his PhD in medical science and biomaterials, Bellamkonda moved to Northeast Ohio to begin his professional career at Case Western Reserve University, serving as an assistant and associate professor, as well as associate chair for graduate education.
He later served as the Wallace H. Coulter Professor and chair of the department of biomedical engineering, and associate vice president for research at Georgia Institute of Technology & Emory School of Medicine. Bellamkonda worked at Duke University for several years as the Vinik Dean of Engineering before returning to Georgia as Emory’s provost.
Bellamkonda launched and led several major initiatives in his time at Emory, including faculty recruitment and retention efforts focused on arts and humanistic inquiry, as well as artificial intelligence across areas such as medicine, business and law.
He is currently overseeing Ohio State’s new AI Fluency initiative.
“Your academics and your brilliance are impressive, but it’s especially how you treat people that’s the most impressive. I think this is a really exciting change, and I also think back on all the things that we’ve accomplished over the last year or so that you’ve been here. You’re the action in the strategic plan and I don’t expect that momentum to slow down at all,” pupil trustee Kendall C. Buchan mentioned.
This story has been updated with additional information from the meeting appointing Ohio State’s new president.
Education reporter Cole Behrens contributed to this report.
Higher schooling reporter Sheridan Hendrix could be reached at shendrix@dispatch.com and on Signal at @sheridan.120. You can observe her on Instagram at @sheridanwrites.
