Ohio State is promoting from within to replace Ted Carter.
Ohio State officially named executive vice president and provost Ravi Bellamkonda as the university’s new president on Thursday.
“Dr. Bellamkonda is well-positioned to lead this institution at a time when Ohio State continues to see record achievements both in terms of student success and impact in the many communities we serve,” Board of Trustees chairman John W. Zeiger said Thursday. “Throughout his career in higher education, including his time at Ohio State, Ravi has proven to be an innovator as well as someone who cares for and builds trust with faculty, staff and students through collaboration and consensus-building. We are pleased to welcome him to his new role as Ohio State’s 18th president.”
Bellamkonda has been Ohio State’s executive vice president and provost, serving as the chief academic officer of the university, since January 2025. Bellamkonda previously served as the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Emory University.
Bellamkonda, who holds a Ph.D. from Brown University and also completed a post-doctoral fellowship at MIT, started his professional career as a professor at Case Western Reserve University and was later a professor and associate vice chair for research at Georgia Tech, a president of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and the dean of engineering at Duke.
“Ohio State is a nation-leading academic powerhouse,” Bellamkonda said. “I understood very early on in my tenure as provost that this is a special place. Because of our teaching, scholarship and research, our scope and incredible reach, and the passion and commitment of our people and Buckeyes everywhere, we can do things other universities in this country, and around the world, simply cannot do.
“And as we look to the future, the university has a bold vision to further build that excellence at scale — with talented teams that execute at the highest levels across academics, student service, research, life-changing patient care and athletics. When we have excellence at scale, we create impact that is transformative. This is why what we do at Ohio State matters.”
Its with deep gratitude to the Board of Trustees and the Buckeye community that Lalita and I accept the opportunity to serve Ohio State in this new role. Weve come to know and love Ohio State as a true powerhouse across academics, athletics, research and health care where pic.twitter.com/NVJatEh4ae
— Ravi V. Bellamkonda (@OhioStatePres) March 12, 2026
Bellamkonda’s promotion comes just three days after Carter resigned as Ohio State’s president. Carter, who had been Ohio State’s president since January 2024, resigned after the university learned that Carter had “an inappropriate relationship with someone seeking public resources to support her personal business.” According to multiple reports, the relationship in question was with Kristanhe Vlachos, the host of The Callout Podcast, who started an LLC in December that listed the offices of WOSU, a public broadcasting service owned by the university, as its headquarters.
Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork and football coach Ryan Day were among those who shared their support for Bellamkonda on Thursday. Even though Ohio State had spring practice on Thursday, Day made a brief appearance at Bellamkonda’s introductory press conference to show his support.
.Congrats Ravi! Looking forward to working with you to continue our momentum together as best in class & leaders in higher education! Onward https://t.co/3JyeWTXHcE
— Ross Bjork (@RossBjorkAD) March 12, 2026
“Ravi and I spoke last night. He shared to me how important athletics is to our student experience and all Buckeyes across the globe. As we know, excellence is the standard here at Ohio State. That includes the classroom, health care, research and winning championships on the field. And at the end of the day, we all win with people,” Day said. “We’re here to serve, to educate and develop people at every level, including the student body, the faculty, the staff. I’m looking forward to working with Ravi, to continue our excellence, as we take it to new levels.”
