Bringing bold ideas, alum Devesh Ranjan to become college’s 10th dean
On June 16, 2025—22 years, to the date, from when he first set foot on the College of Engineering campus as a young master’s student—Devesh Ranjan will officially begin his role as the college’s 10th dean.
“I’ve been blessed from that day onward,” says Ranjan, of his first day in Madison. “The thing I say about UW-Madison is if you dream about doing something here, it will happen. The opportunities and support at UW-Madison make it possible.”
He returns to Madison from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he is concluding his tenure as a professor of mechanical engineering and the Eugene C. Gwaltney Jr. School Chair of the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. With nearly 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students and 95 faculty spread across 19 buildings, it is Georgia Tech’s largest school and one of the nation’s largest and highest-ranked engineering programs.
Ranjan earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 2003 from the National Institute of Technology-Trichy in India, then looked to the United States, and to UW-Madison, for the next step in his academic journey.
“My advisor was very smart; he recommended me to start in summer,” says Ranjan, who went on to earn master’s and PhD degrees in 2005 and 2007, respectively, in mechanical engineering under Professor Riccardo Bonazza. “I was coming from 120-degree heat in India to a beautiful Madison summer, with two lakes, and I fell in love with the place the moment I arrived.”
But then came October. “My first winter was a humbling experience,” he says with a laugh. “I was in my long underwear. But by my second winter, I had fully embraced the cold: I was in shorts in January.”
More importantly, his experiences in Madison shaped the person and leader he has become today. “The place which has given me my identity is the University of Wisconsin-Madison,” he says. “To come back and serve the university that shaped me is the greatest privilege I could ask for.”
After earning his PhD, Ranjan was a director’s postdoctoral fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory, then joined the faculty at Texas A&M University in 2009. He moved to Georgia Tech in 2014, where his research focuses on power conversion and the dynamics of fluids at very high speeds (air across the surface of supersonic jets, the plume of a volcanic eruption, shock waves that fragment kidney stones).
He earned a National Science Foundation CAREER Award and U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Award in 2013 and became Georgia Tech’s first recipient of a U.S. Department of Energy Early Career Award in 2016. In 2021, Ranjan became a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, which presented him with its Gustus L. Larson Memorial Award for outstanding achievement in mechanical engineering in 2023.
“We are very fortunate to bring an engineer with Professor Ranjan’s energy and vision back to Madison,” says UW-Madison Provost Charles Isbell Jr. “His commitment to people and paving the way for their success is a perfect fit for a time of growth at the College of Engineering.”
Ranjan is confident, outgoing and approachable. He believes
in the power of partnerships, and in listening, leading by example, transparency and empowering those around him. He’s known as a community-builder; for example, under him, the Woodruff School began annual Olympic-style games designed to reconnect faculty and staff who’d grown apart during the pandemic.
People also are a strength of the UW-Madison College of Engineering, he says. “We are a college which has absolutely phenomenal students both at the undergraduate and graduate level. They are truly the best and the brightest in the world,” he says. “Moreover, they are supported by incredible faculty and staff members who are dedicated to their success.”
That includes his predecessor, Grainger Dean of the College of Engineering Ian Robertson. “Ian has really set the college up for success,” Ranjan says. “It’s the right time, right place, and with the right ideas, we can really make UW the most impactful undergraduate and graduate program in engineering in the country.”
Ranjan’s vision for the college is ambitious and forward-thinking: enhancing student support and opportunity, fostering entrepreneurial mindset and growth, deepening industry collaborations, and leveraging the college’s strengths to benefit the state and beyond. He aims to establish regular dialogue and collaborative initiatives with college partners to ensure our curriculum aligns with the skills and knowledge required for the future workforce. “I want to meet our entrepreneurs, business leaders and graduates in C-suites,” he says. “I want to meet them, learn from them, and figure out how we can strengthen our value proposition even further for the state and country.”
Strong foundation, dynamic future
Three more questions with incoming Dean Ranjan
What inspires you about UW-Madison, and about the College of Engineering?
There’s an inner fire to do something bigger, to do something bold. I met with the provost, I met with the chancellor—and they all have a bold vision, a bold idea of what we can do. This resonated deeply with me because, at Georgia Tech, I became known for not just bold ideas, but for turning them into reality.
What excites me even more is the energy that I saw during my finalist visit within the College of Engineering at all levels: students, staff and faculty. For example, almost 34% of our faculty right now are assistant professors. I had a chance to meet some of them, and let me tell you, their passion is contagious. There’s so much energy there! If we unleash that potential, we can execute the big ideas, big dreams, and really make an impact in this country. With the new building coming in, it’s an absolutely amazing opportunity for the next dean. This is a place primed for impact—not just in Madison and the state, but across the country.
What’s one thing you want our faculty, staff, students and alumni to know about you as you become our 10th dean?
I believe in the power of people and partnership. It’s very important for me to understand everyone’s passion and to figure out how collectively we’re going to execute that—so that everyone’s passion can be moved towards a whole mission for the college and for the whole campus. I’m a very people-focused person. The College of Engineering is filled with brilliant minds, and my job is to listen, learn and bring us together towards a shared vision.
I also believe that meaningful change can only happen at the speed of trust. And trust is built by showing up, listening and truly understanding. But here’s my commitment: Change will only happen if it makes life better for our students, staff and faculty. If change doesn’t serve that purpose, then it’s not worth pursuing. So expect a lot of conversations, a lot of collaborations—and yes, some change. But every step will be taken together, with a focus on making this college the best place to learn, teach, innovate—and importantly, to dream big.
Is there something you’re particularly excited about doing when you when you get to Madison?
Hopefully during my first week on a Friday, I end up at the Big 10 Pub for
lunch like old times.
Also, I have unfinished business with ice skating. In my first year at Madison, my friends said, “Let’s go play hockey.” I said, yes, because I played in India. They took me to ‘The Shell,’ and I didn’t know why they weren’t going to play on a field. It was an ice rink—and I understood they were talking about ice hockey! I tried ice skating, which I failed miserably; I could barely stand, let alone skate. So this time, I’m coming with a mission: I will learn to ice skate. My sons, Ailesh (age 9) and Aayush (age 8), and wife, Dr. Kumuda Ranjan (a family physician), will be my partners in this adventure. They may be quicker learners than I am, but mark my words: By the end of the first year, I will skate. (Just don’t expect me to be on the hockey team anytime soon.)
