From a small village in Telangana to leading one of India’s most prestigious universities —the journey of Prof. V Ramgopal Rao is truly inspirational. From humble beginnings, he dreamt beyond boundaries — driven by curiosity, discipline, and a deep desire to contribute to science and society.

After completing his early education in modest schools, he pursued engineering and later earned his 𝑴.𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝑴𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒐 𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒔 from IIT Bombay , 𝑷𝒉.𝑫. 𝒊𝒏 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑵𝒂𝒏𝒐 𝑬𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒔 from 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐡𝐫, 𝐆𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 & 𝑷𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒍 from UCLA. His exceptional intellect and dedication soon led him to become a professor at IIT Bombay, where he would go on to 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑬𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑵𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒔, pushing India into the global map of cutting-edge semiconductor and nano research.

In 2016, Prof. Rao took over as the Director of Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, one of India’s most prestigious engineering institutions. Under his leadership, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi witnessed remarkable growth — from expanding research and innovation ecosystems to launching 𝒎𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑-𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒑𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔. Among his proudest contributions are the startups he 𝒄𝒐-𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 — 𝑵𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒔𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑺𝒐𝒊𝒍𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒔.

With 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 500 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉 𝒑𝒂𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔, 50+ 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 (𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 20+ 𝑼𝑺 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔), 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒖𝒔𝒆, Prof. Rao is not only a scientist but also a believer in the power of translating ideas into impact.

Today, as the 𝑮𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒑 𝑽𝒊𝒄𝒆-𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒓 of Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, Prof. V Ramgopal Rao 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒔—𝑷𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒊, 𝑮𝒐𝒂, 𝑯𝒚𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒂𝒅, 𝑫𝒖𝒃𝒂𝒊, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒘𝒍𝒚 𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝑴𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒂𝒊 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒖𝒔 — with the vision of transforming BITS into a global powerhouse of research, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

He is a Fellow of IEEE, Indian National Science Academy - INSA, Indian Academy of Sciences (IASc), Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE), 𝐍𝐀𝐒𝐈, and TWAS – The World Academy of Sciences, and a recipient of 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 such as the 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊 𝑺𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒖𝒑 𝑩𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒓 𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒛𝒆 and Infosys Prize.

He often says that "𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕 𝒃𝒚 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒚".

📘Curated by The Academia Story