Shekhar Garde

Dean of Engineering and the Elaine and Jack Parker Chaired Professor

Dr. Shekhar Garde is Dean of Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Garde provides leadership and administration including strategic planning and implementation, academic programs, budgets, government/industry relations, alumni engagement, and fundraising. The largest among five schools, Engineering enrolls ~3600 UGs (>30% women) and 700 grad students, representing ~60% of the Institute’s enrollment.

Garde received his B. Chem. Eng. (University of Bombay) and Ph.D. (U. Delaware) in Chemical Engineering. He was Director’s post-doctoral fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory before joining Rensselaer in 1999, appointed the Parker Chaired Professor in 2006, Chemical and Biological Engineering Department Head in 2007 and served for seven years before becoming Dean of Engineering.

Dr. Garde’s research employs statistical mechanical theory and molecular modeling and simulation tools to understand the role of water in biological interactions.