Raj Echambadi

Raj Echambadi became the 10th president of Illinois Institute of Technology in August 2021. Echambadi’s vision for Illinois Tech is centered on a new path to preeminence driven by four principles: first, honoring and strengthening the university’s role as an engine of opportunity and national leader in economic mobility; second, pursuing growth through reimagining education to serve learners anywhere at all stages of life; third, fueling future innovation by empowering students to become human-centered technologists; and fourth, exemplifying purpose-driven citizenship in service of Bronzeville, Chicago, and the world.To that end, he is working with university leaders to build new curricular and extracurricular programs to make quality, career-relevant technology education fully accessible to any learner, anywhere in the world. Guided by this vision, Echambadi has ignited historic growth at Illinois Tech, catalyzing an unprecedented 36 percent surge in total enrollment over four years and undergraduate admissions growing by nearly 60 percent in just three years—transforming the university into one of the fastest-growing institutions in the nation and underscoring its appeal as a destination for career-focused, transformative education. The centerpiece of Echambadi’s strategy is the launch of one-of-a-kind Elevate initiative that provides students access to real-world internships, impactful research, and personalized career mentorship, setting a new benchmark for career readiness and experiential learning in higher education. Illinois Tech has also partnered with the global online-learning platform Coursera to offer fully online, industry-aligned programs launched in fall 2023. In a historic move, Echambadi led the establishment of Illinois Tech’s new campus in Mumbai, India—becoming the first United States university approved as a degree-granting campus in the country. Opening in fall 2026, the Mumbai campus will offer undergraduate and graduate programs in high-demand fields such as computer science, engineering, and business, further advancing Illinois Tech’s global footprint and its mission of democratizing access to high-quality STEM education.Illinois Tech has also earned national recognition for its commitment to educational access and career outcomes, receiving the prestigious "Opportunity College and University" classification from the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation, the highest possible designation in access and earnings metrics. Illinois Tech is one of only five technology universities in the country to earn the classification. Among institutions recognized, Illinois Tech notably holds the highest eight-year median earnings and earnings ratio of universities in Illinois, demonstrating its powerful impact on economic mobility.Previously, Echambadi served as the dean of D’Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University. Before joining Northeastern, Echambadi served in various roles, including as senior associate dean of strategic innovation, at Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he was a driving force behind a scaled online M.B.A. (iMBA) program that was lauded as one of the best disruptive educational innovations in the past decade.