Dr. Ishwar K. Puri is senior vice president of research & innovation and professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering and chemical engineering and materials science at University of Southern California.

He is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Dr. Puri is the author of over 200 archival publications and books that have been cited over 8,500 times per Google Scholar with an H-Index of 53. He has founded and mentored startups. He is ranked among the top 2% of scientists in the world based on the citations of those who published between 1965-2019.

Prior to his appointment at University of Southern California, Dr. Puri was dean of the Faculty of Engineering and professor at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. In Canada, he was one of eighteen members of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, an appointment made by the Governor General of Canada. He served as chair of the Canadian National Council of Deans of Engineering and Applied Science, now called Engineering Deans Canada. 

Before that, he was N. Waldo Harrison professor of engineering science and mechanics (ESM) at Virginia Tech where he served as department head from 2004-13.

Dr. Puri serves on the editorial board of Scientific Reports, a Nature Group journal, and is a deputy editor of Research, a Science partner journal.

He is a citizen of Canada and USA.