Rajesh K. Gupta, a renowned computer scientist and experienced academic leader of Indian origin, has been appointed as the founding dean of the School of Computing, Information and Data Sciences (SCIDS) at the University of California San Diego.
The new school, launched in 2024, focuses on advancing research and education in key fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), computing, and data science — areas that are reshaping modern society in significant ways.
Gupta, who has been deeply involved in shaping UC San Diego’s data science landscape, earlier served as the founding director of the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute (HDSI).
The university leadership believes that his guidance will be crucial in positioning SCIDS as a national and global leader in technology and innovation. “As founding director of the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute (HDSI), Rajesh has played a pivotal role in shaping our university’s interdisciplinary, data-driven research landscape. Under his guidance, SCIDS will contribute to UC San Diego’s reputation as a leading university, building on our legacy of strength and innovation in high-performance computing, data science and artificial intelligence,” said Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “I look forward to seeing Rajesh’s impact on advancing our research enterprise and driving groundbreaking discoveries, and am confident that he is the ideal candidate to lead SCIDS into the future.”
SCIDS is built on the strong foundation of both HDSI and the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), which has for decades led major scientific advances through high-performance computing and data analysis. With Gupta at the helm, SCIDS aims to become a centre where research, education and social impact meet.
“This is more than the launch of a new school — it’s a chance to design a new kind of academic enterprise, one that places data science at the heart of interdisciplinary discovery. We’re creating a hub where research, education and real-world impact converge — shaping not only the future of data, computing, and AI, but the role a university can play in the age of pervasive intelligence,” said Gupta. “It’s also a moment to think boldly. I’m excited to collaborate with colleagues across campus to build an academic home where people from across disciplines come together to turn data into actionable knowledge.”
SCIDS is one of 12 schools at UC San Diego, and only the fourth to be added in this century. It brings together more than 50 faculty across 16 academic fields and serves about 8,000 students, including many from a growing community college pipeline. The school offers two undergraduate degrees, three master’s degrees and a PhD program, with specialisation in data science and AI.
The San Diego Supercomputer Center, established in the 1980s as one of the original NSF-funded centres, continues to drive breakthroughs in areas such as bioinformatics, weather prediction, and disaster response. It also plays a key role in workforce development and national AI education efforts.
Gupta’s academic background includes degrees from IIT Kanpur, UC Berkeley, and Stanford University. He has held leadership roles in major national research programmes and has been honoured as a fellow of IEEE, ACM and AAAS. With his leadership, SCIDS is expected to play a major role in shaping the future of computing and data science in the years to come.
