Rate My Professor Venkataraman Lakshmi

Venkataraman Lakshmi is the John L. Newcomb Professor of Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Virginia. He earned a B.E. in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee in 1987, an M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Iowa in 1989, and a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Princeton University in 1995. After completing his doctorate, he worked as a research scientist in the Laboratory for the Atmospheres at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center from 1996 to 1999. He has held visiting appointments as Cox Visiting Professor at Stanford University during 2006-2007 and 2015-2016, and served as Program Director for Hydrologic Sciences at the National Science Foundation from 2017 to 2018.

Professor Lakshmi's research specializes in catchment hydrology, satellite data validation and assimilation, field experiments, land-atmosphere interactions, satellite data downscaling, vadose zone processes, and water resources management. His current focus includes global hydrology and water resources, hydrological extremes such as floods, droughts, landslides, wildfires, and permafrost thaw, as well as the application of big data, AI, and machine learning in hydrology. He leads the Global Hydrology and Water Resources Group at the University of Virginia and has authored over 200 peer-reviewed articles, delivered around 600 presentations, and supervised 25 graduate students. Lakshmi has received numerous awards and honors, including fellowships from the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2018, Geological Society of America in 2020, American Society of Agronomy in 2023, American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2025, and Sigma Xi in 2021. Additional recognitions include NASA Group Achievement Awards for the AQUA Mission in 2003 and the SMAP Validation Experiment in 2013. He currently serves as President of the Hydrology Section of the American Geophysical Union, editor for Vadose Zone Journal, founding editor-in-chief of Remote Sensing in Earth System Science, a member of the Water Science and Technology Board at the National Academy of Sciences, and Vice-Chair of the NASA Earth Science Advisory Committee.