November 30, 2023
By Ashley Ritchie

Devesh Ranjan, Eugene C. Gwaltney, Jr. School Chair and professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, is among the 36 faculty and staff members named to the University System of Georgia’s (USG) Executive Leadership Institute (ELI) class for 2023-24.

For more than a decade, the USG has hosted ELI for faculty and staff to develop new leaders within the university system and offer professional development opportunities to help them advance their careers in Georgia.

Each USG member institution can nominate one academic leader and one staff leader to participate each year. Ranjan, who is representing Georgia Tech during this training cycle, is actively participating in a curriculum that includes group learning and assessment, personal reflection, job shadowing, and cross-mentoring.

“I am honored to have been nominated by President Cabrera and Provost McLaughlin and selected for this prestigious leadership program,” said Ranjan. “These types of professional development opportunities allow me and other scholars to truly reach our full potential.”

Leadership training is not new to Ranjan; he is always looking for ways to develop new skills that allow him to innovate within the Woodruff School and the Institute to better serve students and the community. Last year, he was chosen for the Academy for Innovative Higher Education Leadership, a program committed to cultivating leaders who will help tackle systemic and structural inequity.

Since joining the faculty in 2014, Ranjan has held a number of leadership positions at Georgia Tech. He served as interim vice president for Interdisciplinary Research, overseeing all interdisciplinary activities including the Interdisciplinary Research Institutes and Interdisciplinary Research Centers. He was also co-chair of Georgia Tech’s hypersonics task force, which developed the Institute’s blueprint for enhancing the campus’s research capability in the field. Before being named Chair, Ranjan served as Associate Chair for Research and Ring Family Chair in the Woodruff School and also chaired the Fluid Mechanics Research Area Group.