Rutgers University EVP of Academic Affairs Prabhas V. Moghe will become the next president of the University of Texas at Dallas, effective Aug. 2, the university announced.
Moghe was announced as the sole finalist on May 7. Rutgers is New Jersey’s flagship public university.
“We offer gratitude to the presidential search advisory committee and Chancellor Milliken for their recommendations, and we thank UTD President Dick Benson for a job well done,” the UTD board of regents said in a statement.
Moghe will succeed Richard Benson, who announced in August his plan to transition back to a faculty role at UTD following the 2024-2025 academic year.
“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 in a statement when Moghe was announced as the sole finalist. “Dr. Moghe has a distinguished background as an educator, researcher, and administrator. We’re delighted he will guide UT Dallas as it continues its great trajectory.”
Strategic leadership
UTD said that at Rutgers, Moghe provided strategic leadership over all academic and research operations across four chancellor-led campuses and 29 academic units.
Since assuming his current role in 2020, Moghe helped lead Rutgers through a 40% increase in research funding (from $689 million to nearly $1 billion). Concurrently, Rutgers has gained in national prestige, moving up 22 slots to 15th among public universities in U.S. News & World Report’s rankings alone.
Previously, Moghe was provost and executive vice chancellor for research and academic affairs at Rutgers–New Brunswick.
Moghe 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 prior to joining the Rutgers faculty in 1995.
The UT System said that Moghe’s candidacy was recommended to the board by a presidential search advisory committee, chaired by UT System Chancellor JB Milliken, which included representation from the UTD faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community leaders, as well as UT presidents and regents.
Benson presided over the university for nine years, a time that was noted by a successful era of impressive campus and academic growth, UTD said.
The system said that over the last decade, UTD’s total research expenditures have risen from $98.6 million to $180.2 million. There has been more than 2 million square feet of new construction and 2023 saw student enrollment topping 30,000, an increase of 57% in the last decade.
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If appointed by regents after the state-required 21-day waiting period for sole finalists, Rutgers University's Prabhas Moghe would succeed Richard Benson, who announced in August his plan to transition back to a faculty role at UTD.
