Professor Radhakrishna “Suresh” Sureshkumar, chair of the Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, was named Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at Syracuse University by Vice Chancellor and Provost Eric F. Spina.
Distinguished Professorships are awarded to those few faculty members at Syracuse University with extraordinary scholarly achievements and a history of outstanding intellectual leadership.
Radhakrishna Sureshkumar
“Professor Sureshkumar’s research in the areas of complex fluids, soft condensed matter and nanostructured materials and interfaces is widely acclaimed by scholars around the world and is both improving our understanding of critically important phenomena and enabling key practical applications,” Spina says. “He has built an impressive research group in which undergraduate and graduate students receive excellent training for productive careers in the academy and industry, and is an excellent mentor to his students.”
Sureshkumar’s current research focuses on understanding the structure, dynamics and rheology of complex fluids and soft matter, and nanoscale science and engineering of functional materials and interfaces. He uses multiscale modeling and simulations as well as experiments to probe the response of complex soft matter and interfaces to external stimuli, such as mechanical deformation caused by flow, chemical/thermal gradients and optical fields.
Sureshkumar has worked across the department and with colleagues in the college—and across the University—to elevate the quality and stature of the Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering.
“Syracuse University has a very special place in my heart. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to come back to ’cuse to help shape and shepherd the department’s growth, nucleate and nurture multidisciplinary research initiatives across the Hill, lead a vibrant research group, and mentor graduate and undergraduate students,” Sureshkumar says. “I am humbled by this recognition and look forward to offering stewardship for many strategic research and educational efforts aimed at elevating academic excellence at SU under the leadership of Chancellor Kent Syverud.”
“Professor Sureshkumar is an extremely well-respected researcher, educator and colleague in the college and across campus,” says College of Engineering and Computer Science Dean Laura J. Steinberg. “As department chair, he has worked tirelessly to enhance the academic experiences of our students, and he has been invaluable to the college in supporting and promoting our work in key research focus areas, including smart materials for healthcare, rehabilitative and regenerative engineering, and energy engineering.”
Along with his many published articles, his work has been recognized internationally as a keynote speaker at such conferences as the International Congress on Rheology in Lisbon, the European Congress on Computational Methods in Applied Sciences and Engineering in Vienna, and the Lorentz Center Workshop on Flow Instabilities and Turbulence in Leiden, Netherlands.
Prior to his tenure at Syracuse University, Sureshkumar was a professor of chemical engineering at Washington University in St. Louis; was a visiting professor at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Rice University, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Porto in Portugal; and was a lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Sureshkumar earned a Ph.D. in chemical engineering at the University of Delaware, an M.S. in chemical engineering at Syracuse University and a bachelor of technology in chemical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai (Madras).
