Amitabh Varshney began his role as interim vice president for research in October 2021. He continues to serve as dean of the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS).

Varshney has been on the UMD computer science faculty since 2000 and became dean in March 2018. He previously led the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies, where he launched the Maryland Cybersecurity Center, the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science, the Corporate Partners in Computing program and the Maryland Center for Women in Computing. Through the MPowering the State strategic initiative with the University of Maryland, Baltimore, Varshney assisted in creating the Center for Health-related Informatics and Bioimaging and the Maryland Blended Reality Center.

An Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers fellow, Varshney received a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in computer science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.