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Virginia Tech honors Naren Ramakrishnan with distinguished professorship
The computer science professor is known for pioneering data-driven forecasting systems in public health, elections, and societal trends.
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Malvika Choudhary - Wed, 06, May 2026
- 18:20 EDT
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Naren Ramakrishnan. / Photo by Craig Newcomb for Virginia Tech.
Virginia Tech has named Indian American professor Naren Ramakrishnan a distinguished professor at the university, recognizing his contributions to artificial intelligence, machine learning, forecasting, and data science research.
Ramakrishnan, the Thomas L. Phillips professor in the department of computer science was elevated to the rank on April 14 by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors, joining 17 active distinguished professors at the university whose scholarly work has earned national and international recognition, the University Press reported.
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Ramakrishnan’s research has focused on recommender systems, computational epidemiology, urban analytics, and forecasting systems that use large-scale data to study public health and societal trends.
One of his most recognized projects, EMBERS, developed with support from the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity, deployed a continuous forecasting system that anticipated disease outbreaks, civil unrest, and election outcomes using open-source data including news reports, satellite imagery, social media activity, and atmospheric indicators.
The EMBERS project later gained recognition for pioneering the use of unconventional data signals in machine learning, including hospital parking lot imagery, absenteeism patterns on social media, and restaurant reservation trends to identify disease activity and human behavioral changes.
In 2025, the project received the “Test of Time” Award from the Association for Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining.
“Dr. Ramakrishnan’s expertise and leadership in AI and machine learning places Virginia Tech at the forefront of this rapidly evolving field,” Virginia Tech president Tim Sands told the University Press. “His continuing work will help us anticipate change, develop informed policies, and prepare for the transformational impact of this technology on our society.”
Ramakrishnan is the founding director of the Sanghani Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics and leads AI and machine learning efforts for the Institute for Advanced Computing.
He has also helped establish several interdisciplinary initiatives in Northern Virginia, including a National Science Foundation-funded urban computing graduate certificate program.
He also launched the Amazon-Virginia Tech Initiative for Efficient and Robust Machine Learning, which supports research collaborations, doctoral fellowships, and community outreach in machine learning.
In addition, he co-leads an AI in pediatric health partnership with Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., focused on predictive healthcare and rare genetic disorders in children.
“I am very honored to receive this distinction from Virginia Tech, which affords me an outstanding environment to pursue projects that can have real impact, even when they take years to come to fruition,” Ramakrishnan said in a statement to the University Press. “My students and colleagues are a constant source of ideas and perspective, and they continually inspire me.”
Ramakrishnan is a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. He has also served on the Governor’s AI Task Force and co-chaired the 2025 Virginia Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s Summit on AI.
He earned a master’s degree from Anna University, India and a doctorate in computer sciences from Purdue University.
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