OSU names new assistant vice president

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Dr. Pratul Agarwal has been named the new assistant vice president for research cyberinfrastructure and director of high-performance computing at Oklahoma State University.

“Our cyberinfrastructure unit supports OSU researchers in many disciplines, from food safety science and business analytics, to our Tier 1 Microbiome Initiative,” said Kenneth Sewell, vice president for research. “Pratul has a unique background that allows him to lead this unit and help us further develop big data analytics research and educational programs at OSU.”

Agarwal earned his doctorate in chemistry from Pennsylvania State University. He attended the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi in India for his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biochemical engineering and biotechnology.

Most recently, Agarwal was a research professor for the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and an adjunct faculty member in physiological sciences at OSU.

He also served as the senior research and development scientist in the computer science and mathematics division of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory for six years.

Agarwal’s experience with high-performance computing began in 1999 while he was a graduate student at Notre Dame. At a time when no manuals or books existed for high-performance computing clusters, he designed and maintained a 50-node Linux cluster, later moving it to Penn State and expanding it.

He brings more than 14 years of experience as an independent researcher to OSU, holds three patents and has published more than 60 papers.

"The warmth of the people and the great team spirit shown by early collaborators attracted me to OSU,” Agarwal said. “I look forward to sharing my expertise in computing and research to enable OSU researchers to solve problems of local and global importance."

 MEDIA CONTACT: Harrison Hill | Research Communication Specialist | 405-744-5827 | harrison.c.hill@okstate.edu