UMass Amherst Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy Appointed by Governor Baker to Massachusetts Cybersecurity Strategy Council

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AMHERST, Mass. – University of Massachusetts Amherst Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy has been named by Gov. Charlie Baker to the new Massachusetts Cybersecurity Strategy Council, which will advise state leaders on ways to spur economic growth and cyber-resilience in the Commonwealth.

The appointment of the 19-member council, which includes representatives from state government, the private sector and the Commonwealth’s leading research institutions, was announced Sept. 27 during the 2018 Massachusetts Cybersecurity Forum in Boston. Baker also announced the appointment of Stephanie A. Helm as the first director of the MassCyberCenter at the Mass Tech Collaborative.

“The MassCyberCenter and Cybersecurity Strategy Council were created to ensure the state serves as a valuable partner with businesses, colleges and universities, and the public sector to grow Massachusetts’ cybersecurity industry and continue developing a talented workforce,” said Baker.

Subbaswamy became the 30th leader of UMass Amherst in 2012. He has emerged as a popular and well-regarded chancellor for his pursuit of academic excellence, promotion of research and outreach, and initiatives aimed at addressing campus climate, diversity and culture.

Subbaswamy has overseen the opening of new cutting-edge academic and athletic facilities, including the Commonwealth Honors College Residential Community, the Integrative Learning Center and the Life Science Laboratories. He has made sustainability a campus priority and he is focused on strengthening community relationships, supporting area communities and increasing access to the university’s rich academic and research resources. Championing an open and transparent leadership style, Subbaswamy enacted a comprehensive campus-wide strategic planning process to continue to build on the successes of UMass Amherst in the coming years.

As part of fortifying the future, Subbaswamy played a key role in UMass Rising, the $300-million fundraising campaign, the largest in campus history.

Subbaswamy has instituted plans to improve the UMass educational experience by introducing more opportunities for undergraduate research experiences and integrative and team-based learning. His priority is also to increase the enrollment of students from low-income communities. Under his tenure, the campus’s status as a research powerhouse that touches—and often transforms—communities in the state and around the world will be enhanced.

Before coming to Amherst, Subbaswamy served as provost at the University of Kentucky since 2006. A physicist, he joined Kentucky’s faculty in 1978 after serving as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Irvine. During his first 18 years at the University of Kentucky, he served as associate dean of arts and sciences and as chair of the department of physics and astronomy. In other administrative positions, Subbaswamy was also dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Miami from 1997 to 2000. Then he left to become dean of arts and sciences at Indiana University Bloomington, serving until 2006 when he moved to Kentucky.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in science from Bangalore University, a master’s in physics from Delhi University and a Ph.D. in physics from Indiana University. He was elected a fellow of the American Physical Society in 1989. His primary research area is the optical properties of novel materials and nonlinear excitations. He has published more than 60 articles and coauthored a book on the local density theory of polarizability.

The Cybersecurity Strategy Council is chaired by retired rear admiral Michael Brown, the former director for cybersecurity coordination in the National Protection and Programs Directorate of the federal Department of Homeland Security. He now serves as president of Spinnaker Security LLC.