Pramod P. Khargonekar

Biography

Pramod P. Khargonekar is currently Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and served as Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of California, Irvine, from 2016 to 2025. As Vice Chancellor for Research at UC Irvine, he led the university's research enterprise to record external funding levels exceeding $668 million in 2023-24, substantially surpassing the strategic plan goal of $500 million.

Khargonekar came to UC Irvine after serving from 2013 to 2016 as Assistant Director of the National Science Foundation, leading the Directorate of Engineering with an annual budget exceeding $950 million. He served briefly as Deputy Director of Technology at ARPA-E in 2012-13. From 2001 to 2009, he was Dean of the College of Engineering and Eckis Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Florida till 2016. He was Chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from 1997 to 2001 and held the position of Claude E. Shannon Professor of Engineering Science at the University of Michigan. He was on the faculty of Electrical Engineeering Department at the University of Minnesota from 1984 to 1989.

Khargonekar received his PhD in electrical engineering under the guidance of Professor R. E. Kalman at the University of Florida in 1981. He received MS in mathematics (1980) from the University of Florida and BTech in electrical engineering (1977) from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.

Khargonekar’s research has spanned fundamental control theory and applications to manufacturing, energy systems, climate change mitigation, adaptation, and resilience. He is currently working on the integration of AI and ML into cyber-physical-human systems. In his leadership roles, he has enabled science and engineering research communities to pursue important, multidisciplinary research aimed at addressing major societal priorities such as manufacturing, the food-water-energy nexus, future of work, climate change, etc. He has also worked in connecting academic research with technological innovation and industrial adoption. He has also supported career growth of faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students.

Khargonekar has received numerous honors and awards including the IEEE Control Systems Award, the IEEE Baker Prize, the IEEE Control Systems Society Bode Lecture Prize, the IEEE Control Systems Society Axelby Award, NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award, AACC Donald P. Eckman Award, Distinguished Alumni and Distinguished Service Awards from IIT Bombay, and Inaugural Hall-of-Fame Inductee, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of Florida. He is a Fellow of IEEE, IFAC, and AAAS.

Education

• Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, University of Florida, 1981
• M.S. in Mathematics, University of Florida, 1980
• B.Tech. in Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India, 1977

Distinctions

• IEEE Control Systems Award, 2019
• IEEE Control Systems Society Bode Lecture Prize, 2021
• W. R. G. Baker Prize Paper Award (co-authored with J. Doyle, K. Glover and B. Francis), IEEE, 1991
• George S. Axelby Best Paper Award (co-authored with J. Doyle, K. Glover and B. Francis), IEEE Control Systems Society, 1990
• Fellow, American Association for Advancement of Science, 2018
• Fellow, International Federation of Automatic Control, 2014
• Fellow, IEEE, 1993
• Claude E. Shannon Professor of Engineering Science, The University of Michigan, 2000-2001
• Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, University of Michigan, 1995-1998
• Presidential Young Investigator Award, National Science Foundation, 1985
• Web of Science Highly Cited Researcher, 2001
• Donald P. Eckman Award – Best Young (under the age of 35) Control Engineer, American Automatic Control Council, 1989
• Japan Society for Promotion of Science Fellowship, 1992, 2007
• Distinguished Alumnus Award, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India, 1997
• Distinguished Service Award, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India, 2011
• N. R. Kamath Professorship, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, 2025-2026
• Inaugural Hall of Fame Inductee, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Florida, 2024