Rao (born 1 January 1953) is an Indian academician and the current President of NIIT University.
He was previously the Acting Vice-Chancellor of Birla Institute of Technology and Science, and the Director of the Hyderabad Campus of the BITS-Pilani University.
He is an alumnus of BITS-Pilani and had been associated with the university for more than four decades in various capacities.
As director, he was regarded as being instrumental in the establishment of the Hyderabad Campus.