The University’s Center for Computation and Technology’s search for a new director came to a close Tuesday with the appointment of J. “Ram” Ramanujam.
The search began in December after previous CCT director, Joel Tohline, announced his retirement after 31 years at the University.
“We conducted a national search,” said Kalliat Valsaraj, vice chancellor of Research and Economic Development. “Out of 20 [chosen] candidates, it boiled down to three.”
The search committee had representation from every University department associated with the CCT, including humanities, and a representative from Louisiana Economic Development, Valsaraj said.
“[Ramanujam] is thinking about computational issues throughout the state of Louisiana,” said Jorge Pullin, physics and astronomy professor who served as interim director of the CCT since last semester said.
Valsaraj said Louisiana’s economic development is relevant because of the growing popularity of digital media.
“Everyone’s got something to do with computing,” Valsaraj said.
Ramanujam will replace Pullin effective May 1, pending approval by the Board of Supervisors.
Pullin said Ramanujam is a good fit for the position.
“There are several areas [of research] emerging,” Pullin said, such as coastal modeling and computational biology.
Pullin said being director of the CCT requires familiarity in high-performance computing.
He said bringing so many different people together for interdisciplinary research, like the CCT, can be challenging.
“It’s not just about the faculty position,” Valsaraj said. “But also about having managerial skills applicable in a multidiscipline situation.”
Despite this challenge, the CCT bridges varying fields of academic research together through the use of technology, especially high-performance computing and networking.
“It’s not something you can call a single department,” Valsaraj said.
“Everyone’s got something to do with computing.”