Dear Colleagues,
I am pleased to announce that Arun Chandran Natarajan will join the Office of the Provost as the associate provost for institutional research and effectiveness. Arun comes to Rice from Johns Hopkins University, where he served as the assistant vice provost for institutional research. He will assume his new role July 1.
Arun has nearly 20 years of combined experience in institutional research and business intelligence. He is a results-driven leader, an exceptional motivator and a communicator who fosters unity among staff at all levels, inspiring his team to work toward a common goal. Arun will provide strategic leadership and vision to develop a culture of analytical, data-driven decision-making across the university. He will play an integral role in building a network of data science experts across campus, creating a data warehouse, spearheading data sharing across the university and overseeing external reporting obligations. Under Arun’s leadership, the office will also oversee the university accreditation process.
At Johns Hopkins, Arun designed and developed an institutional research analytical database that serves as a valuable, centralized source of data for compliance reporting and responding to university-wide queries. He collaborated on producing diversity reports, publishing doctoral program statistics, transforming the OIR website, analyzing master’s student debt, creating an annual recurrent research expenditure dashboard, benchmarking faculty salaries and evaluating individual doctoral programs. Through these efforts, he developed a collaborative culture and utilized data analytics to strategically guide the university’s mission. You can read more about him in Rice News. I am confident Arun will be a valuable addition to Rice and am excited to work with him as we utilize the power of data and analysis to guide and implement Rice’s strategic plan and vision.
Arun earned his Bachelor of Science from Bharathiar University in India, Master of Science in electrical engineering with a concentration in computer engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology and Master of Business Administration from Johns Hopkins.
Please join me in welcoming Arun to Rice.
Warm Regards,
Amy