Dr. Thilla Sivakumaran

Dr. Thillainatarajan “Thilla” Sivakumaran is the inaugural vice president for TXST Global at Texas State University, a role he assumed on July 1, 2023. Before joining Texas State, Sivakumaran served as vice chancellor for enrollment management and global outreach at Arkansas State University from 2021. He also held key leadership roles at Arkansas State’s campus in Queretaro, Mexico, as vice rector of academic affairs starting in 2020, and previously served as executive director of global engagement and outreach and dean for the College of Education and Behavioral Science. During his tenure at Arkansas State, Sivakumaran was instrumental in increasing freshman, transfer, and graduate enrollment, establishing degree centers on community college campuses, and quadrupling enrollment at the Queretaro campus. He also significantly grew concurrent and dual-enrollment opportunities across Arkansas and fostered partnerships with universities worldwide, including in China, Japan, Qatar, Malta, and Scotland. His experience extends to working with online program management companies to scale academic programs. Prior to Arkansas State, Sivakumaran spent eight years at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, where he held various positions, including instructional technology coordinator, faculty member in curriculum and instruction, and associate dean for the College of Education and Human Development. He began his career in education as a high school chemistry, biology, and physical science teacher. Sivakumaran holds a bachelor’s degree in molecular and cellular biology from the University of Washington and earned both his master’s in secondary science education and a Ph.D. in instructional technology from the University of Tennessee.