Senior Associate Provost Jay Raja Plans Return to Faculty

Dr. Jay Raja, senior associate provost for Academic Affairs, plans to return to the faculty in a full professor role with the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science beginning in July 2022.

“Dr. Raja is an exceptional leader who is skilled at bringing people together to develop and implement innovative programs. His expertise has led to improved institutional effectiveness in many areas. I wish to thank him for his dedicated service to the Office of Academic Affairs,” said Provost Joan Lorden.

Raja has served as senior associate provost for 13 years during a period of tremendous growth at the university. He has successfully led numerous projects to advance strategic goals around facility space allocation, budget and capital planning, accreditation and assessment, international programs, classroom support, faculty affairs, and faculty development.

Among his contributions, Raja played a key role in the formation of the School of Professional Studies and the initiation of the Charlotte Research Scholars program at the campus level.

He led space planning renovation projects and the development of active learning classrooms to improve instructional spaces and to accommodate new initiatives in instructional design. He also spearheaded the creation of more study and gathering places to better meet the needs of students.

Raja joined UNC Charlotte in 1989 and served as associate chair for graduate studies in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science; he was instrumental in the establishment of the Center for Precision Metrology. He served eight years as department chair for Mechanical Engineering during a period when the department’s student enrollment grew from approximately 300 students to more than 800 students. He has authored or co-authored more than 75 papers and one book. He has directed the work of 27 masters students and 11 Ph.D students in the areas of manufacturing, surface metrology, and form metrology.

Dr. Lee Gray, who currently is associate dean in the College of Arts + Architecture, will serve as interim senior associate provost during the candidate search and will transition to the Office of Academic Affairs in mid-spring.