As of March 25, 2024, Dr. Lakshmi Reddi serves as Interim Provost and Chief Academic Officer at New Mexico State University (NMSU). Prior to this role, he served as Dean of Engineering at NMSU for eight years and as Dean of the Graduate School at Florida International University (FIU) for five years. He also served in the role of Department Head at University of Central Florida and Kansas State University.

In his administrative appointments, which spanned 25 years, he raised about $100 million in private and congressional funding. His initiative, “Academy of Graduates for Integrative Learning Experiences (AGILE)” at FIU, and the new Geomatics program he established at NMSU, received national awards. During his tenure as Dean at NMSU, extramural research funding reached its highest levels. Enrollments reached their highest levels in the units he served as department head at Kansas State and at University of Central Florida.

Dr. Reddi’s academic career involved teaching and research in the interdisciplinary area of geoenvironmental engineering. He received numerous awards for his teaching. His research teams included from civil and environmental engineering, Physics, Biology, and other disciplines within and outside engineering. He has secured over $25 million in extramural research funding from various sponsors including NSF, NASA, EPA, and FHWA. The research and outreach centers initiated by him, and the corporate and alumni academies established by him, continue to attract millions of dollars of federal, state, and local funding. His research on biomimetic systems for sustainable engineering and energy efficiency has led to the establishment of a collaborative network of researchers from Africa, America, Asia, and Europe, including core groups from South Korea, France, UK, and India.

At Kansas State University, Dr. Reddi received the Engineering Research Excellence Award and the Presidential Award for Outstanding Department Head. He is also a two-time recipient of the James Robbins Teaching Award, a chapter honor member of Chi Epsilon, and an Eminent Engineer of Tau Beta Pi. Dr. Reddi is a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). In 2005, he was named “Distinguished Alumnus” by The Ohio State University, and in 2010, he received the Engineering Leadership Excellence Award from the Engineering Societies of Central Florida.

In addition to his academic and research achievements, Dr. Reddi has served on various boards, including the Board of Directors of the Florida Engineering Society, the GRE and TOEFL Boards of Directors at the Educational Testing Service (ETS), the NM MESA Board of Directors, and the National Roundtable for DoD Basic Science Research.