Prof. Anurag Kumar, an expert in communication networks, is the 20th Director of the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore. Known as a tough task master and a good decision maker, he has contributed immensely both as an academician and an administrator. His work has won numerous awards and recognitions including the IISc Alumni Award for Excellence in Engineering Research 2008. IIT Kanpur has conferred upon him the Distinguished Alumnus Award 2016 for academic excellence.
Prof. Anurag Kumar received his bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kanpur in 1977. He was awarded with the President's Gold Medal, L.N. Das Memorial Gold Medal and Proficiency Prize for the best outgoing undergraduate student, the best undergraduate student in Electrical Engineering and the best project work in Electrical Engineering, respectively.
In 1981, he completed his Ph.D. from Cornell University where he worked under the guidance of Prof. T.L. Fine. For over six years, he was a member of technical staff at AT&T Bell Labs, Holmdel, N.J., where he worked on the performance analysis of computer systems, communication networks and manufacturing systems. In 1988, he joined the Department of Electrical Communication Engineering (ECE) at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore and since then has been associated with it. From 1989 to 2003, he coordinated ERNET, a nationwide Education and Research Network project for networking the major education and research institutions in India. This project was instrumental in bringing network connectivity to Indian students and researchers in the late 80s and early 90s. During his tenure with the institute, he held several administrative positions including the Associate Chairman of the ECE Department from 2000 to 2004, the Chairman of the ECE Department from 2004 to 2007, and the Chairman of Electrical Sciences Division from 2007 to 2014.
On 29th March 2014, Prof. Kumar became the first engineer to take over as the Director of IISc after a gap of more than three decades. He, however, maintained that the institute was known for its mix of scientists and engineers and such distinction was inconsequential.
Prof. Kumar's research interests include stochastic modeling, analysis, optimization and control problems arising in communication networks and distributed systems. He has worked on analytical and experimental research in traffic modeling, traffic engineering and quality of service techniques in communication networks. His work has won several recognitions and awards. He is an elected fellow of the IEEE, Indian National Science Academy (INSA), Indian Academy of Science (IASc), Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE), Institute of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE) and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). He has also been awarded the DST J.C. Bose National Fellowship for the period 2011-2021. He has also served as an Area Editor for IEEE Transactions on Networking, and for IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials.
