Spring 2012 (PDF) - Virginia Tech

GRADUATE ALUMNI
ACHIEVEMENT AWARD RECIPIENT
Satish V. Kulkarni
Dr. Satish V. Kulkarni currently serves as the Director of Energy Initiatives in Virginia Tech’s Office of the Vice President
for Research and is a research professor of engineering science and mechanics, working at the Virginia Tech Research
Center in Arlington and at the Blacksburg campus. Before joining Virginia Tech, he was associate vice president for new
initiatives and partnerships at Georgetown University.
Dr. Kulkarni has established an exemplary record of innovative scientific, educational, and policy leadership in national
and international arenas. After obtaining his Ph.D. at Virginia Tech, he began his career in the nascent field of advanced
composite materials and moved on to Babcock & Wilcox’s Nuclear Power Generation Division before joining Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory. At Livermore, he directed numerous interdisciplinary programs in national security, energy,
and the environment.
Moving to the University of California, he served in the president’s office, helping to develop and implement a corporate
research strategy to better utilize and integrate capabilities at the three national laboratories (Berkeley, Los Alamos, and
Livermore) managed by the university as well as at the ten-campus University of California system.
He also has served as the counselor for science, technology, environment and health affairs with the U.S. State
Department in the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India. He was instrumental in facilitating collaborations and agreements
between the U.S. and India in science and technology, nuclear and space research, climate change, healthcare initiatives,
and wildlife.
Dr. Kulkarni earned his B.S. in civil engineering from Calcutta University and M.S. in structural mechanics from the
Indian Institute of Technology. He earned his Ph.D. at Virginia Tech in engineering mechanics in 1972 and has been an
outstanding ambassador for the university ever since.
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