UL Lafayette’s financial deficit down from $50 million to $12 million, president says
University of Louisiana at Lafayette president Ramesh Kolluru spoke with Jan Swift of the Discover Lafayette podcast.
Ramesh Kolluru was a graduate student at the University of Southwestern Louisiana when university president Ray Authement would stop by and ask him about his future plans.
“Here was the president of a university of 16,000 students checking in on an international graduate student,” Kolluru recalled during a recent conversation with Jan Swift of the Discover Lafayette podcast. “The president was checking in on me.”
Kolluru, now the president of the university renamed the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, said that experience shaped his philosophy of leadership, instilling a belief in visibility, belonging and personal impact.
You can listen to his conversation with Swift here.
Kolluru emphasized that his advancement at the university is inseparable from the institution’s influence on him. He was previously vice president for research, innovation and economic development and helped guide UL Lafayette to its Carnegie R1 designation.
Kolluru also noted how the university’s financial deficit has dwindled in recent months from $50 million to $12 million. He described the work as “my opportunity to nurture this university back to good health.”