Dr. Sanjay Rai

Media Appearances

July 2022:South Asia Monitor’s Washington Calling, "Frank Islam speaks with Dr. Sanjay Rai"
June 2022:News India Times, "US-India Civil Rights Legacy: ‘Gandhi-King Scholarly Exchange Initiative’ launched"
May 2022:Inside Higher Ed,"Students Seek Stronger Connections With Professors but Rarely Take the Leadnew window"
April 2022:The American Bazaar, "Dr. Sanjay Rai wins President’s Lifetime Achievement Award"
December 2021:世界杯摩洛哥vs克罗地亚欧赔, "The Workforce of Tomorrow Series: IgnITing Montgomery County’s Future Tech Talentnew window"
August 2021:MCTV, "5G Bootcamp @ Montgomery College!new window"
July 2021:Facebook Live, "The Workforce of Tomorrow: The Quantum Revolutions & The Talent Pipelinenew window"
June 2021:MC News,"Montgomery County, University System of Maryland, and Montgomery College Create Landmark Partnership to Expand Region’s Leadership Role in Life and Regulatory Sciences Education and Innovation"
May 2021:Voice of America, "Calls for Free Community College as Fewer Go During Pandemic"
April 2021:Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gorakhpur University, India,Dr. Rai was the Keynote Speaker at the 39th Commencement Ceremonynew window

Dr. Sanjay Rai, senior vice president foracademic affairsat Montgomery College, is an outspoken champion and ardent supporter of innovations that advance student success in academic, career, technical, andworkforce development programs. Since his appointment to this position in 2014, he has transformed the Academic Affairs Division, leading efforts to pursue grants and resulting in the College’s first Department of Labor grants ($25M), as well as partnerships with business and industry (Amazon, Lockheed, Amarex, InfoSys, BIOTrain) that led to the development of innovative workforce development programs in Cybersecurity, Information Technology, Data Science, and Cloud Computing.

He also developed a collegewide academic structure which encouraged collaboration, innovation, and intensified focus on student success and degree completion. He supported and encouraged development and use ofopen education resources (OER), and other student success initiatives including the development ofonline degreesand expanded online offerings; the redesign ofGeneral Education,General Studies, and developmental education programs reducing barriers to student success and increasing transferability; the development of alternate placement processes allowing more students to begin their academic journey in college-level courses; and the implementation of academic program advising, among others. These innovations combined with a change in culture made the transition to remote teaching and learning during the COVID pandemic smoother and successful.

His priorities revolve around reducing barriers to student success and encouraging opportunities for innovation supporting student success. TheAchieving the Promise Academyprovides resources for one-to-one engagement with academic coaches and focuses on gateway and challenging courses for underprepared students. Grant funds increased participation in the Academy, and NSF, NIH, and FIPSIE grants increased participation and success of underrepresented students in STEM fields.

He has deepened partnerships withMontgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)through the development of theMiddle College Program, and again with theEarly College Programwhich was implemented in Fall 2018. Our first cohort of Early College students graduated in 2020, and by 2023, it is anticipated that nearly 700 of these dually enrolled students will have graduated with an associate’s degree in one of 14 programs, as well as earned a high school diploma. In addition, working with Montgomery County, MCPS and Apple, pilotedMontgomery Can Codebootcamps serving over 1,000 middle school students across the county at no cost to the students.

Prior to serving as the College’s chief academic officer, Dr. Rai led theGermantown Campusas vice president and provost where he assisted with the creation of thePinkney Innovation Complex for Science and Technologywhich includes Holy Cross Hospital (first hospital built on a community college campus) and supports the Life Sciences Park providing an integrated academic, business, and research environment. This endeavor has been sustained over time, and in 2016, the College received the AACC Partnership Award for this project. In addition, the Paul Peck Academic and Innovation Building was completed during his Germantown tenure to address the burgeoning life science industry with 25 start-up companies working on projects and providing learning opportunities for our faculty and students. Dr. Rai supported the development of theFrank Islam Athenaeum SymposiaandSouthern Management Leadership Program，以及生物科学教育设施的建设。

He currently serves on theMontgomery County Economic Development Council, Maryland Technology Council, Montgomery College and Holy Cross Health Steering Committee, as well as the governor’sLife Sciences Advisory Board. He was awarded theSANS Difference Maker Award(2020), theChief Academic Officer of the Year Awardfrom the National Council for Instructional Administrators (2019) andLeadership Montgomery’s Outstanding Leader(2017). He has received several awards for teaching and scholarship and has authored numerous scholarly articles and other academic publications. His newest book isBasic Insights in Vector Calculus: with a Supplement on Mathematical Understanding, (2020) whose royalities go to the Montgomery College Foundation to support students' scholarships.