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Engineering Dean on Immigration Policy and Attracting the Best Minds

Bellamkonda discusses what immigrants bring to higher education

To ensure the brightest minds are tackling the world's biggest problems, Duke's Pratt School of Engineering Dean Ravi Bellamkonda explains why he feels U.S. immigration reform should not prevent foreign nationals from attending American universities. These students and faculty are an integral part of Duke Engineering’s work, which ranges from advancing quantum computing to designing new therapies for cancer and other diseases.

“When we take on such grand challenges and important problems we want the best minds to be working on these,” Bellamkonda says. “And it turns out, if you look at our graduate programs, you look at our faculty, indeed several of these minds that are currently making a difference come from everywhere in the world.”

In part 2 of the interview, Bellamkonda will discuss confronting and overcoming biases.