Bernard P. Arulanandam Appointed Vice President for Research and Innovation Effective Sept. 1

I am pleased to share that Bernard P. Arulanandam has been appointed vice president for research and innovation, effective September 1, 2026, and will lead a new office known as the Office of University Research and Innovation (OURI), reporting directly to me.

Tufts’ research enterprise has grown in scope and complexity over the past several years. Under Bernard’s leadership, the OURI will encompass research administration and development, compliance, infrastructure, environmental health and safety, technology commercialization, and enhanced corporate and government engagement related to research. It will also help coordinate cross-school faculty cluster hiring, foster a growing innovation ecosystem, and provide strategic oversight for our signature research centers and institutes. The new structure also reflects the realities of today’s research environment, where expectations around research security, foreign influence disclosure, export controls, and compliance have increased substantially—and where it is important that our chief research officer has the institutional standing that these responsibilities require.

Bernard has served as the university’s vice provost for research since July 2022, and has overseen a 20% expansion of the university’s research portfolio, all while providing steady leadership through an increasingly complex and challenging funding environment.  Before joining Tufts, he served as vice president for research, economic development, and knowledge enterprise at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Microbiology, and the National Academy of Inventors. In 2025, he was elected a foreign fellow of the Indian National Sciences Academy and continues to maintain an active research program as a faculty member within Tufts University School of Medicine.

While the OURI will now operate as a separate office, the provost will remain the chief academic officer and will continue to bear overall responsibility for appointments, grant of tenure or continuous term, and promotions involving the faculty body, together with evaluating and setting the direction of research and scholarship at the university. Bernard and Provost ad interim Joe Auner will collaborate closely to advance Tufts’ research agenda, ensuring that our scholarly ambitions and academic priorities are aligned. I am confident this structure will strengthen and serve the university and our faculty and scholars well.

Please join me in congratulating Bernard on this well-deserved appointment. I am grateful for his dedication to this university and excited about what the OURI will accomplish in the years ahead.

Best regards,

Sunil Kumar
President