Meet our President

The Vermont State College Board of Trustees named Parwinder Grewal college President of Castleton University, Northern Vermont University, Vermont Technical College, and ultimately Vermont State University on July 1, 2022. Vermont State University will welcome its first class in fall 2023. The University, will be the first statewide, hybrid institution in the United States.

Dr. Grewal brings over 25 years of higher education experience and 10 years of biotechnology research and development experience in industry and government in six US states and five countries. Most recently, he served at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, a new university created through the merger of three long-standing legacy institutions spanning multiple campuses and communities where he played key leadership roles including as the Founding Dean of the College of Sciences, Dean of the Graduate College, Executive Vice President for Research, Graduate Studies and New Program Development, and Special Assistant to the President. Prior to Texas, he served as the Department Head of Entomology and Plant Pathology at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and as a Distinguished Professor of Entomology at The Ohio State University where he also served as the Founding Director of the Center for Urban Environment and Economic Development and of the Urban Landscape Ecology Program.

Dr. Grewal has a BS in Agriculture and a MS in Plant Pathology from Punjab Agricultural University, and a Ph.D. in Zoology from Imperial College London. In addition to his many entomology, nematology, and distinguished faculty awards, Dr. Grewal received a Fulbright Scholar Award from the U.S. Department of State and Stockholm University in Sweden in 2013.

Dr. Grewal is an internationally recognized nematologist and is ranked among the top two percent of the world’s most-cited scientists. He is also a Fellow of the Society of Nematologists and has served as its President. His most recent research has focused on community resilience through local self-reliance in food, energy, and water.

Pending approval by the New England Commission of Higher Education, the accrediting body for the member institutions of the Vermont State Colleges System, the inaugural President will serve simultaneously as the President of Vermont State University and President of Castleton University, Northern Vermont University, and Vermont Technical College for the 2022-2023 academic year. During this time, he will lead the three institutions as they transition to Vermont State University. Effective July 1, 2023, Vermont State University will officially launch as a unified, singly-accredited institution and President Grewal will assume the sole role of President of Vermont State University.

The Vermont State University President will exercise broad responsibilities for all aspects of the academic, student, financial, and development dimensions of the university. The President will report to the Chancellor and work closely with the Board of Trustees and with Vermont State University’s sister institution, Community College of Vermont.