U of A's role, potential lauded by its new president Suresh Garimella

The University of Arizona's role and potential, including in attracting new business and venture capital to the community, were lauded Wednesday by new UA President Suresh Garimella in remarks to local business leaders. "There’s no institutions as comprehensive as the University of Arizona in the state or in the Southwest,” he said, in terms of research, medical care, space sciences, engineering, climate and sustainability, agriculture and more. “So, it’s just wonderful to come to a place like this, that has so much reach, so much potential," he told an audience of about 500 people at the Tucson Metro Chamber's State of the Region event at the Tucson Convention Center.

In a sit-down presentation with Lisa Lovallo, Cox Enterprises' vice president and system manager, Garimella was asked about his approach to leading a university with a large-scale economic "engine." '“I am a product of a higher education, and I really do believe in the mission of the land-grant university,” responded Garimella, who took the UA's helm on Oct. 1.



“To me, what it means is that it democratizes education, makes education accessible to people who wouldn’t otherwise be accessing it. And so, I take that vision very seriously." He said the mission is to bring assets of the university, its intellectual and social capital, to the community and put them to use, whether the community is Tucson, Pima County, Southern Arizona, the nation or the globe.

Suresh Garimella is shown being introduced as the University of Arizona's new president in August. He began in the role on Oct. 1.

He emphasized that as a land-grant, flagship university and a federally designated Hispanic-serving institution “10s of miles from the border,” UA needs “to build better relationships with Mexico and figure out how to work across that border.” Lovallo asked him about being a first-generation immigrant. He responded that it’s amazing how many people are first-generation immigrants.

It’s not a story that’s well-known, so it’s good to get that out and have it be inspiring for those who come from families that are primarily economically challenged and have trouble sending their children to school, Garimella said. “It’s nice to be able to see that it’s possible and you can be anything you want to be." Garimella was born and brought up in India, where he got his bachelor’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology.

He went on to higher education studies at Ohio State University and Berkeley University. He began his teaching career at the University of Wisconsin, before going on to Purdue University and later becoming president of the University of Vermont for the last five years. In terms of the partnership between the UA and businesses, Garimella emphasized service and outreach, tracing his prior experiences of partnering with different-sized companies to invest in their growth potential.

With all the assets the UA has, the university “should be serving as the Bell Labs” for companies looking for a heavy research presence, he said. With respect to bringing talent with him to the UA, Lovallo addressed the recent hiring of Tomás Díaz de la Rubia as senior vice president for research and innovation , who was also present at the event. To this, Garimella said one of the challenges the UA was facing was the flux in leadership positions and that an early focus for him is bringing in top leaders.

“Between the two of us, I think you’ll see a different University of Arizona,” said Garimella, referring to Rubia and himself. Lovallo asked about his leadership style, and he listed the qualities of optimism in not focusing only on challenges and obstacles but building "big things,” working hard and energetically, and adding additional value to the leadership role instead of just keeping the trains running. “A month is too short to understand all of our assets, both inside the university and in the community,” said Garimella when asked about his hopes and ambitions for the UA for the next year or two.

“So, a year from now, two years from now, I hope we come here and talk about our successes in attracting lots of venture capital, lots of new business,” he said. Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community.

Want to see more like this? Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox..