Please welcome our new Associate Dean!

I am pleased to announce Dr. Teja Guda’s appointment as Associate Dean in the Graduate School. In this role, he will be primarily responsible for collaboratively working with all stakeholders across campus to ensure timely implementation and communication of policies and guidelines stemming from the 2019 recommendations of the Graduate Student Success Task Force. Teja is an Associate Professor in Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering and holds the Jacobson Distinguished Professorship in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. 

A graduate of IIT Mumbai’s B.Tech. program, Teja earned his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the Joint Graduate Program between UTSA and the University of Texas Health San Antonio. His research focuses on tissue engineering and biomechanics, translating regenerative medicine solutions for traumatic injuries and developing medical devices focused on military medicine and patient rehabilitation and recovery. His research has been supported the National Science Foundation (NSF CAREER awardee 2019), Department of Defense, the National Institutes of Health and various private foundations and biomedical industry. He has chaired five dissertations, three Master’s theses, and thirteen undergraduate honors theses. Teja and his students have published in the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, Tissue Engineering, The Laryngoscope and were recently recognized by a “Young Innovator” Award publication in the Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering journal. 

Teja has served as the Program Director for the Biomedical Technology Commercialization graduate program since it was founded in 2020. This new joint program between the Biomedical Engineering (CEID) and Information Systems (COB) offers both a Masters and graduate certificate to students. He has been coordinating the graduation of the first cohort of students this summer, all of whom will have completed relevant, external employment/internships prior to graduation and is recruiting student for the upcoming cohorts. He also brings experience as the Assistant Director, since 2014 of the Center for Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship conducting student entrepreneurship training and competitions and securing support for developing technology based entrepreneurship at UTSA. His experiences with the undergraduate and graduate students have led him to develop professional preparedness workshops for biomedical engineering students and host regional research conferences sponsored by professional societies at UTSA to provide broader research exposure for our students. 

I am confident that Teja will work with all programs to help advance graduate and postdoctoral training as the institution moves towards NRUF and Carnegie Tier 1 research classification, aligned with the mission and values of the Graduate School and UTSA. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Guda to the Graduate School.  

-- Ambika Mathur, Vice Provost and Dean of The Graduate School

- The Graduate School