Ashok S. Kolaskar

With over 20 years of experience as a researcher in bioinformatics and as an educator at a university level, Ashok S. Kolaskar has played a key role in shaping India's educational direction. Currently, Kolaskar splits his time between being the Honorary Vice Chancellor at the University of Pune in India, the Director of the Bioinformatics Program for the American Type Culture Collection and an affiliate professor in the School of Computational Sciences at George Mason University.

For the past 13 years, he has served as a professor and as Director of the Bioinformatics Center at the University of Pune. His main areas of research include theoretical molecular biophysics work and bioinformatics. Kolaskar also has spent time in various management positions, from advising Ph.D students as a chairman of the post-graduate department at the University of Pune and as the chief investigator of large research and infra-structural grants and contracts from the Indian government. He has also been actively involved with international scientific organizations from the Technology Transfer Society, to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Maharashtra Association for the Cultivation of Science.

Kolaskar has implemented major reforms in the university governance during his tenure as Vice Chancellor of the University of Pune, one of the largest universities in India. He also represents an important science driver for high performance computers and networks through his work in bioinformatics. He serves as advisor for science, education, technology and innovation to India's National Knowledge Commission, and he was recently asked by the World Bank to write the chapter on the value proposition of research education networks in India.

Kolaskar earned his undergraduate degree in physics, chemistry and mathematics from Nagpur University in India, and a Master of Science in physics at the same university. He received his Ph.D., in Theoretical Studies on the Conformation of Peptides and Polypeptides, from the Indian Institute of Science.