Paul Cherukuri

Paul Cherukuri serves as a Special Advisor to the Provost for UVA Innovates, a pan-university entrepreneurship initiative,

Cherukuri will lead the next phase of the development of a University-wide innovation ecosystem—fostering cross-school collaboration, empowering faculty and students to translate ideas into impact, and expanding partnerships with industry, government, and regional stakeholders. This initiative reflects UVA’s commitment to excellence, entrepreneurship, and driving positive change on both a local and global scale.

Cherukuri has served as the inaugural vice president for innovation and chief innovation officer at Rice University since 2022. At Rice, Cherukuri spearheaded initiatives that redefined the university’s innovation enterprise, from launching the Rice Biotech Launch Pad and RBL LLC to rapidly advance lifesaving technologies, to forging the $12.5 million Woodside-Rice Decarbonization Accelerator to transform greenhouse gases into next-generation materials, and creating the Rice Nexus hub at Houston’s Ion District to scale AI-driven startups—efforts that firmly positioned Rice and Houston at the forefront of global innovation. Prior to this, he served as executive director of Rice’s Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering, forging interdisciplinary research partnerships with federal agencies and corporations and securing nearly $37 million to accelerate the development of new technologies into commercial products