About Dr. Sreekala Bajwa

Dr. Sreekala Bajwa

Sreekala Bajwa assumed the post of Vice President for Agriculture, Dean of the College of Agriculture and Director of the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station in 2019. She oversees a teaching, education and research network that stretches across Montana with seven agricultural research centers, six academic departments and five Bozeman-based campus farms and ranches.  

Dr. Bajwa has an extensive background in agricultural engineering and developing technology for smart agriculture. She is a highly regarded researcher of precision agriculture and has provided international leadership in research and education applying remote sensing and unmanned aerial systems to agricultural enterprises.

Under her leadership, Montana State University’s College of Agriculture has seen its highest enrollment in history and perennially leads MSU in research expenditures, totaling $54.1 million in 2024-25.

Dr. Bajwa’s technological accomplishments include four inventions in digital agriculture and bio-based materials, and she has been lead investigator or co-investigator on grant-funded projects worth more than $20 million. She is the author of five book chapters and more than 68 journal articles.

Academic Background

Dr. Bajwa received her bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering from Kerala Agricultural University in India, her master’s degree in agricultural engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur and her doctorate in agricultural engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She previously served as chair of North Dakota State University’s Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering and as a faculty member at the University of Arkansas.

Selected Awards

  • 2022 Cyrus Hall McCormick-Jerome Increase Case Gold Medal for exceptional engineering achievements in agriculture
  • 2019 James R. and Karen A. Gilley Award for Academic Leadership
  • 2007 AMA–SHIN-NORINSHA–AAAE Young Researcher Award
  • Fellow of the American Society of Agricultural & Biological Engineers