SURA Announces New Leadership on the Board of Directors
Washington, D.C. – SURA welcomes new leadership on the 2026 Board of Directors. Leading the 2026 Board, P. Srirama Rao, Ph.D., assumes the role of Chair, with Daniel Sui stepping in as Vice Chair. In addition, the Board has appointed two new Committee Chairs: Joseph (Josh) Gladden and Padma Raghavan, to chair the Finance Committee and Information Technology (IT) Committee, respectively.
P. Srirama Rao, Vice President for Research and Innovation at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), takes the helm as Board Chair with a history of big ideas and industrious leadership. Throughout nearly 30 years in administrative and research leadership, Rao has accelerated investment in basic and translational research. Under his tenure, VCU’s research expenditures have doubled to $524M and external sponsored funding has doubled to over $568M. Rao has also cultivated global collaborations, including the Consortium on One Medicine One Science, which he led at the University of Minnesota. Further, he is an inducted Fellow in the National Academy of Inventors and holds 22 patents, embodying SURA’s enterprising ethos. As Chair, Rao intends to “coordinate the vision and mission of SURA’s original charter with new and emerging opportunities to address some of the greatest challenges we are facing as a nation.” Rao’s strengths in partnership building and visionary thinking position him to adeptly lead SURA towards new connections and opportunities.
Daniel Sui, Senior Vice President and Chief Research and Innovation Officer at Virginia Tech, brings a wealth of expertise in governance and resource stewardship to the role of Vice Chair, along with a demonstrated commitment to SURA and its mission. His approach draws from 22 years of leadership experience in research infrastructure, cross-institutional alliances, and research portfolio management, e.g., approximately $700M research portfolio. Within SURA, Sui most recently served as Chair of the Finance Committee, where he fostered transparency and pragmatic fiscal vision. In his leadership term, Sui aims to strengthen SURA’s scientific impact, fiscal resilience, and national relevance. Sui notes, “SURA’s value lies in stewarding complex, high-impact research assets for the nation while expanding opportunities for our member universities.”
In addition to the Board Chairs, SURA gains two new Committee Chairs.
Josh Gladden, Vice President for Research at Temple University, succeeds Sui as Finance Committee Chair. Gladden has overseen substantial growth in major research portfolios and served in various leadership roles within and beyond the university setting. He joins the Board as a representative from Temple University, SURA’s newest member institution. In his role as Finance Chair, Gladden is prepared to grow SURA’s reach and navigate the uncertainty of the research funding landscape nationwide. He emphasizes SURA’s unique strengths in collaboration, stating that he will pull on the committee’s “different connections, different perspectives, and different wise owls” to optimize SURA’s path forward financially in service of its mission.
Padma Raghavan, the Chancellor’s Executive Director for Science and Technology Strategy at Vanderbilt University, has been appointed to chair the IT Committee. She brings over fifteen years of experience in university leadership and a strong record of partnering with national laboratories. As an expert in high performance computing, Raghavan offers key insights to drive the IT Committee forward as it seeks to maximize its continued relevance and effectiveness. She highlights, “The timing couldn’t be better to see how we can drive scientific impact by leveraging all things computing, data, and AI.” Having served on the SURA Board before, Raghavan is keenly aware of how committees can expand research opportunities for its members and plans to utilize SURA’s expertise to amplify these opportunities.
Gladden and Raghavan join several returning Committee Chairs on the SURA Board of Directors: Andres Gil, Ph.D., Florida International University (Development & Relations Committee); Omar Faison, Ph.D., Virginia State University (Committee of Minority-Serving Institutions); William Moore, Ph.D., Hampton University (Space Science & Technology Committee); and, Robert Twilley, Ph.D., Louisiana State University (Coastal & Environmental Research Committee). Additionally, University of Maryland’s Elizabeth Beise, Ph.D., and Old Dominion University’s Chad Reed, serve on the Board as members of the Finance Committee. Rounding out the SURA Board of Directors, the most recent Chair, James Weyhenmeyer, Ph.D., Auburn University, has transitioned to the role of Past Chair.
Under the 2026 Board, SURA remains dedicated to partnering with its member universities to advance world-class programs that benefit the nation. For additional information about the SURA Board, visit: https://sura.org/about/board-of-directors-3/
About SURA
Southeastern Universities Research Association is a consortium of fifty-seven member universities that fosters collaborations which enhance members’ capabilities of undertaking significant, transformative scientific research projects that no single institution can handle independently.
Media Contact:
Anna Rader Groves
SURA Communications Specialist
Email: arader@sura.org.