UC Davis Vice Chancellor of Research Prasant Mohapatra has accepted the position of provost and executive vice president of academic affairs at the University of South Florida starting March 1.

Under Mohapatra’s leadership, UC Davis reached major milestones in external research funding. Last year, the university attracted $1.07 billion in external research funding, up $102.9 million from the previous record set in 2020-21. Fewer than 20 public universities in the nation have surpassed $1 billion in research funding.

“Prasant has been truly dedicated to excellence at UC Davis, and I know he will be a very strong leader in his new role at the University of South Florida,” Chancellor Gary S. May said. “He leaves us in a great place for others to build upon. He will always be part of the Aggie family.”

Mohapatra joined the UC Davis faculty in 2001 and has held a number of leadership positions: vice chancellor since 2018, and before that vice provost and dean of Graduate Studies, associate chancellor, interim vice provost and chief information officer, and chair of the Department of Computer Science in the College of Engineering.

He was the first to hold the Tim Bucher Family Endowed Chair in the Department of Computer Science and has remained a distinguished professor in the department.

“UC Davis has been an integral part of my career, and the city of Davis is more a way of life for us — it’s where we raised our two wonderful children,” Mohapatra said. “The memories, friendships and just the everyday life will be cherished forever. I have worked with the finest teams and mentors in all of my roles at UC Davis. It has given me a lot and I will forever be indebted to this great institution. As Gary said, I will always belong to the Aggie family.”

In the coming weeks, Chancellor May will charge a recruitment advisory committee to conduct a national search to fill Mohapatra’s position. The chancellor will also name an interim vice chancellor for research soon.