Jayathi Y. Murthy, a national leader in higher education engineering teaching, research and service, began her service as Oregon State University’s 16th president on Sept. 9, 2022. She is the first female to lead the university, and the ARCS Chapter’s first university President as a member. 

 As OSU’s president, Murthy is committed to improving access to college for all learners; advancing student success, undergraduate graduation rates and inclusive excellence throughout the university; expanding OSU’s strong research portfolio by investing in research infrastructure; and supporting faculty excellence in teaching, scholarship, research, and Extension and engagement programs. 

 Prior to joining Oregon State, Murthy served as the first woman dean of the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science since January 2016. Murthy also served as chair of the mechanical engineering department at the University of Texas at Austin from 2012-2015; worked as a mechanical engineering professor at Purdue University from 2001-2011; and served as a professor of mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh from 1998 to 2001. Murthy began her academic career at Arizona State University in 1984. From 1988 to 1998, Murthy worked at New Hampshire-based Fluent, Inc., a developer and vendor of the world’s most widely used computational fluid dynamics software. 

“Advancing diversity, equity and inclusion is a deeply held conviction of mine and is central to my work as an educator and administrator,” Murthy said. “As an engineer I have often been the only woman in the room since I was 16,” Murthy said during an interview when named to the OSU post.

“I thank my parents for being incredibly far-seeing. They gave me opportunities as a young girl in India to attend one of the country's finest engineering schools. My parents provided me the opportunity to come to America for graduate school,” Murthy told the interviewer.  

 Murthy received a doctorate in mechanical engineering from the University of Minnesota, a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Washington State University and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, where she was named a distinguished alumna in 2012. 

Murthy's husband, Sanjay Mathur, is an aerospace engineer.

We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Murthy to ARCS Oregon!