The newest provost at Johns Hopkins is an expert in both business and engineering, who comes to Baltimore via the University of Chicago.
Sunil Kumar was born in India, where he also received a bachelor’s and master’s in engineering. He went on to blend his engineering expertise with an interest in business, conducting research into optimizing manufacturing systems and communications networks. He taught and served as an administrator first at Stanford, and then most recently at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.
Several of Kumar’s recent achievements in Chicago align with directions that Johns Hopkins has been moving in: He expanded courses for undergraduates, built bridges between the business school and other university programs; and significantly expanded the proportion of women enrolled in the business school’s full-time programs. He’s signaled that he’d like to do something similar at Hopkins: “As dean at Chicago, I have helped spearhead several initiatives that brought the business school closer to other parts of the university, especially the undergraduate college,” he told the Hopkins Hub. “I feel that the professional schools and the rest of the university have a complementary and symbiotic relationship. I am deeply attracted to the opportunity to support the faculty and students at Johns Hopkins as it moves closer to the ‘one university’ ideal.”
He’ll be the first Asian-American provost in the university’s history.
