Ram Ramanujam Selected as Special Advisor on AI, Steps Down as CCT Director
May 22, 2025
Ram Ramanujam
Jagannathan 鈥淩am鈥� Ramanujam, director of the 海角社区 Center for Computation & Technology (CCT) and the John E. and Beatrice L. Ritter Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the 海角社区 College of Engineering, has been chosen to serve as special advisor to 海角社区 Vice President of Research & Economic Development Robert Twilley on strategic AI and data science initiatives. As part of the move, effective June 2, Ramanujam will step down as CCT director to broaden his focus on helping the university build winning teams to secure federal and corporate funding for research at 海角社区.
鈥淎rtificial intelligence and data and quantum science are strategic research priorities that align with government and industry needs and cut across all areas of 海角社区鈥檚 Scholarship First Agenda,鈥� Twilley said. 鈥淩amanujam joining our team will position 海角社区 to build on its accomplishments in computational sciences and pursue new opportunities in frontier research.鈥�
Ramanujam has served as CCT director since 2014. During his tenure, CCT has established itself as a major center for data-driven, interdisciplinary research. The center is home to 44 joint faculty who support several priority areas for research at 海角社区, including cybersecurity (7 faculty), coastal modeling (8 faculty), and AI (5 faculty).
During Ramanujam鈥檚 time as director, CCT researchers have helped secure large, federal awards, including to develop a digital twin for NASA (Marc Aubanel, director of 海角社区鈥檚 Digital Media Arts & Engineering program, and Associate Professor Derick Ostrenko, 海角社区 College of Art & Design), build the nation鈥檚 cyber workforce (海角社区 Cyber Center Director and 海角社区 College of Engineering Professor Golden Richard), improve computer science education in Louisiana schools (Juana Moreno, the Patricia Hewlett Bodin Distinguished Professor of Physics in the 海角社区 College of Science), and develop solutions for national security and defense (Professors Aisha Ali-Gombe, Hartmut Kaiser, and Golden Richard, 海角社区 College of Engineering).
In addition to overseeing collaborative efforts and advancing the use of advanced computing technologies to solve complex problems, Ramanujam has more than 11,500 citations for his own research, which spans hardware and software, including high-performance computing, compilers, and computer architecture. He was named an 海角社区 Distinguished Research Master in 2016.
鈥淚 am excited about this opportunity and look forward to focusing exclusively on AI and data science initiatives,鈥� Ramanujam said. 鈥淎I can significantly and positively impact every aspect of research and education at 海角社区.鈥�
海角社区 will soon name an interim director of CCT. If you鈥檇 like to submit a nomination or send in your resume, please email research@lsu.edu by Tuesday, May 27, 2025. Candidates should be full professors with administrative experience.
Next Step
海角社区's Scholarship First Agenda is helping achieve health, prosperity, and security for Louisiana and the world.