Excecutive Director for Strategic Partnerships with India, University at Albany, Albany, NY, USA. Deadline: 3 September 2026.
The University at Albany (UAlbany) is expanding its global reach, visibility, and impact in India, focusing on academic and research partnerships. Most recently, UAlbany signed several agreements with partner institutions, including Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences (RUAS) and Ramaiah Institute of Science and Management (RISM). This initiative is in line with the university’s strategic priority of Internationalization and its primary goal to educate engaged global citizens.
These agreements have already paved the way for UAlbany, RUAS, and RISM to collaborate on academic programs, research initiatives, workforce development efforts, and faculty and student exchange. Since these partnerships began in 2025, we have made significant progress, including our collaboration with RISM’s launch in India. Important milestones include:
The official launch of RISM in its temporary location in June 2026. A groundbreaking celebration for the new RISM campus in Bengaluru, which will also feature a high-level delegation from UAlbany in September 2026. Ongoing relationship-building with industry partners in India. Reporting directly to the Vice President for Research and Economic Development, the Executive Director for Strategic Partnerships with India will, in coordination and collaboration with the President, the Chief of Staff to the President, and senior administration at UAlbany and our partner institutions, focus on the development and implementation of strategic goals, projects, and initiatives related to academic and research partnerships, enrollment, and industry partnerships. The Executive Director will also work with UAlbany leadership to set the vision, goals, and strategic priorities to develop a robust, impactful, and sustainable model aimed at expanding and strengthening these partnerships.
The Executive Director will serve as the primary liaison and operational lead for UAlbany’s existing and future partnerships in India and other areas of the world as determined by the President and the UAlbany leadership team. They will coordinate closely with UAlbany’s leadership team, including the President, Provost, Vice President for Research and Economic Development, Academic Deans, the President’s Chief of Staff and Liaison for International Relations, and others. Their leadership role will be instrumental to these partnerships.
In addition to executing the existing partnership agreements, the Executive Director should be proposing potential new areas for partnership with RUAS, RISM, and other institutions and industry leaders in India and other areas of the world.
She has been a visiting faculty member in EM Normandie in France and has conducted intercultural programs for Dassault Systemes, Naval Group, and Forvia, to name a few positions. Raised in a diverse country like India, Pratha was inspired by the cultural adaptability that people exhibited to function harmoniously. She wanted to be a catalyst in making intercultural interactions easier and that’s when she decided to be an interculturalist.
While her Ph.D. is in Russian, her specializations are in Linguistics, Lexicology, Translation Studies, and Comparative Literature. She founded the journal Kelyane Bhashantar, dedicated to direct translations from foreign languages into Marathi, and served as Chief Editor (2011-2016).
She has passed the Japanese Language Proficiency Test at the N3 level. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Mass Media, specializing in Advertising, at Ramanarain Ruia College, Mumbai, India.
He completed a PhD in Mass Communication at Panjab University, Chandigarh, with a research focus on intercultural communicative competence among interstate migrants in Mumbai.. His research specializations are Intercultural Communicative Competence, Cultural Adoption, Cultural Assimilation, and Interpersonal Communication.
Center for Intercultural Dialogue 