Nevada’s Board of Regents on Thursday appointed Dr. Kumud Acharya as permanent president of the Desert Research Institute. Dr. Acharya was given a four-year contract which continues through Sept. 11, 2024 with an annual salary of $320,000 along with a car, housing and host allowance, among other benefits.
Acharya is an ecological engineer who’s been at DRI since 2006, starting as an assistant research professor and holding posts as interim vice president for research, senior director of DRI’s former Center for Environmental Remediation and Monitoring, executive director for DRI’s Division of Hydrologic Sciences, and chief technology advisor for Water Start.
A statement from the Nevada System of Higher Education said that Acharya’s “pioneering work in Nevada helped local and state water managers address aquatic invasive species threatening both Lake Mead and Lake Tahoe.”
It went on to note that Acharya has brought in over $18 million in external research grants and contracts to DRI. He also served as a postdoctoral and endowed research fellow at Arizona State University and the University of Louisville. Acharya is one of several high-profile appointments at NSHE over the past several months. Melody Rose was recently hired as NSHE’s new chancellor and Keith Whitfield was selected as UNLV’s new president. Regents are also planning to select a new president for the University of Nevada, Reno next week.
