UCLA Names Venkat Interim Center for India Director
Bharat Jayram Venkat will lead the Center for India and South Asia during fall quarter 2026 while director Anna Morcom is on sabbatical.
Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in People
The UCLA International Institute announced on Oct. 27 that Bharat Jayram Venkat, an associate professor, has been named interim director of the Center for India and South Asia for fall quarter 2026. Anna Morcom, the center's director, is on sabbatical leave during that period.
Why it matters
The appointment keeps leadership in place at a Los Angeles university center focused on India and South Asia while its director is away. Venkat's work on thermal inequality also connects the campus to heat-related research affecting Los Angeles neighborhoods.
The interim appointment runs for fall quarter 2026, a single academic term. Venkat's first book, "At the Limits of Cure," was published by Duke University Press in 2021 and has earned three major awards.
The players
Bharat Jayram Venkat
Venkat is an associate professor at UCLA who founded the UCLA Heat Lab and is the author of "At the Limits of Cure."
Anna Morcom
Morcom is the director of UCLA's Center for India and South Asia, currently on sabbatical leave.
UCLA International Institute
The UCLA International Institute oversees the Center for India and South Asia and announced Venkat's appointment.
The details
Venkat is an associate professor with joint appointments at UCLA's Institute for Society and Genetics and its departments of history and anthropology. He founded the UCLA Heat Lab, which studies thermal inequality, including oral histories in Watts and occupational heat exposure among Westwood food truck workers. His forthcoming book, "Swelter: Our Bodies in a Warming World," is scheduled for July 2027 publication by Crown Publishing and Picador.
Timeline
- Fall quarter 2026: Venkat serves as interim director of the Center for India and South Asia.
- Oct. 27, 2026: UCLA International Institute announces the interim appointment.
- July 2027: "Swelter: Our Bodies in a Warming World" is scheduled for publication.
People Moves
Venkat's dual leadership role links the UCLA Heat Lab's climate-justice research with the Center for India and South Asia's regional scholarship. The interim post comes as his heat-inequality work has produced public-facing outputs such as the Watts oral histories and LAUSD climate curriculum.
Students and faculty interested in India and South Asia programming can direct questions to the Center for India and South Asia during Venkat's interim term. Residents interested in heat research can follow the UCLA Heat Lab's public projects, including its LAUSD curriculum work.
The takeaway
Academic leadership transitions like this one often keep ongoing public-facing research moving during a director's absence, so local communities can continue to engage with that work. Readers tracking UCLA's climate and South Asia scholarship should watch for updates on the center's programming.
Further reading
Explore more People coverage tied to academic and institutional leadership changes.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The American Bazaar.
