Shivanthi Anandan

About

Shivanthi Anandan, Ph.D., is the Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at La Salle University. She joined the Executive Cabinet upon her arrival in August 2022.

At La Salle, Anandan works with University leadership, faculty, and the Board of Trustees to ensure the University’s academic programs and services reflect La Salle’s mission and core values. She oversees curriculum, academic standards, and program creation; and promotes faculty development and instructional and learning supports, among other critical responsibilities.

Anandan conducts research that investigates how photosynthetic organisms perceive and respond to environmental signals, particularly light. She currently works on innovating devices for sustainably growing produce in the home in an eco-friendly way.

Prior to her time at La Salle, Anandan served for four years as Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education at Drexel University. In this role, she worked across Drexel’s 15 schools and colleges to contribute to curricular development across its 75 undergraduate majors, while upholding the university’s academic standards, and optimizing existing and innovating new practices to better position undergraduate students for success after graduation.

Anandan joined Drexel University in 1997 as an assistant professor in the Department of Biology. Anandan has received numerous awards for her distinguished teaching and research, including the Lindback Foundation Award for Excellence in Teaching and the College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Excellence Award.

She received a Ph.D. in biology from the University of California, Los Angeles. She received a bachelor of science in botany from the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka.