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Ashok DhingraNew regional vice chancellor, administration and finance, University of South Florida St. Petersburg

PREVIOUS POSITION: Vice president, administration and finance, Southwest Tennessee Community College, Memphis

For Ashok Dhingra, pursing his career has taken him to the far corners of the United States: California, Alaska and now Florida.

In his new role, Dhingra will oversee a wide range of operational functions, from budgets, accounting services, facilities planning and construction services to operations and maintenance of facilities, purchasing services, human resources and police services.

That will mean working with a staff of about 100 people, he said.

"Basically, my role and my work is (to) work with people and respond to their needs, and mostly you're doing that, working with the constituents: staff, faculty and students," he said.

"To me, work is fun," he said. "I'm one of those people who enjoys coming to work. It doesn't matter what hour of the day.

"Institutions of higher leaning are not in an environment by themselves," Dhingra said. "So I will be developing a relationship with city officials and business officials in meeting our needs in the community and in meeting their needs in the community."

The University of South Florida St. Petersburg has about 4,700 students, Dhingra said. "That's expected to grow to 8,000 in the next decade."

Dhingra, a native of New Delhi, said he always knew he wanted to work in higher education.

"I chose the academic path because I wanted to be around young people who could energize me, and I could energize them," he said. "That's what has kept me in the industry for 35 years. I've always been good in education myself, and being in an intellectual environment is what appeals to me."

Dhingra earned his bachelor's degree in 1968 at Punjab University, then came to the United States to earn his master's degree in business administration at the University of California at Los Angeles in 1970.

He began his career at California State University in Northridge as associate student business manager. After six years, he became assistant budget director for the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. In 1983, Dhingra joined the University of Nevada in Reno as vice president of administration and finance.

He remained there for 20 years and earned a doctorate of public administration in 1993. In 2003, he joined Southwest Tennessee Community College as vice president of administration and finance.

Taking the position at Southwest Tennessee was part of Dhingra's career plan, he said.

"I had worked in universities. I had worked in higher education systems. I never had worked in community colleges," he said. "It was a wonderful opportunity because it filled that vacuum of understanding.

"If you're in business, you have to think what's your goal and how do you get there," Dhingra said. "Otherwise, you will wander and take a long time getting there."

Dhingra said he is finding spring in St. Petersburg quite familiar. "It's like Delhi: hot and humid," he said. "It's like coming home."

Dhingra, 59, and his wife, Nargis, will live in St. Petersburg, he said. They have five adult children, the youngest in college.

In his spare time, Dhingra said he likes to travel to new countries.

"I go all over," he said. "There's so much to see in the world, so many cultures to see. I travel to a different country almost every year."

[Last modified May 8, 2006, 08:27:57]