Ivan Pulinkala

Dr. Ivan Pulinkala
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
Professor of Dance

Ed.D. Higher Education Administration, Univ. of Alabama
M.F.A. Dance, Mills College
B.Com (H), Delhi University
Areas of Emphasis: Choreography, Contemporary Technique, History/Theory, Kinesiology
E-mail: ipulinka@kennesaw.edu

Ivan Pulinkala is the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at Kennesaw State University. Pulinkala founded the Program in Dance at KSU in 2005, serving as the Director until 2012 and as the Chair of the Department of Dance from 2012-2018. Pulinkala was named the Interim Dean of the College of the Arts in 2018 and appointed as the Dean of the College of the Arts in 2019. He served as KSU’s interim provost from July 2021 until he officially assumed the role of Provost and SVP of Academic Affairs in December 2022. He received his Doctorate in Higher Education Administration from the University of Alabama, his M.F.A in Dance from Mills College, Oakland, CA, and his Bachelor of Commerce (Honors) from Hindu College, Delhi University.

Pulinkala is credited with developing Georgia’s largest collegiate dance program at KSU, building the program’s state-of-the-art studio facility at Chastain Pointe and creating Atlanta’s only discipline-specific Dance Theatre on the Marietta Campus. KSU Dance has received regional and national attention for Pulinkala's choreographic work, with three successive Kennedy Center selections at the National American College Dance Association (ACDA) and five ACDA Regional Gala selections across the Southeast. Pulinkala’s choreographic commissions include works for The Israel Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Fresco Dance- Israel, the Alliance Theatre, Atlanta Gay Men’s Chorus, Georgia Shakespeare, City Lights Youth Theatre, as well as collegiate commission at Washington University at St. Louis, Shanghai Normal University, Brigham Young University, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of South Carolina, Western Kentucky University, Middle Tennessee State University, University of Tennessee at Martin, Vanderbilt University and Spelman College. 

Serving as Dean of the College of the Arts, Pulinkala developed the first graduate degree in the arts at KSU, facilitated the naming of the Bailey School of Music, and re-branded the arts to create the ArtsKSU identity and virtual platform. Under his leadership, the College of the Arts enrollment grew by 41%, national accreditation was pursued in all four disciplinary units, structures were created to advance external peer-reviewed research, and the Virtual Masterclass Series was established in partnership with the Georgia Department of Education. 

Pulinkala was selected for the Accelerated Leadership Academy at the University System of Georgia in 2017, the Executive Leadership Institute at the University System of Georgia in 2013, awarded the KSU Foundation Award in 2011, the Clendenin Graduate Fellowship at KSU in 2010, 2011 and 2012, the NEA American Masterpiece Grant in 2010, the Cobb Symphony Orchestra Award for Artistic Excellence in 2010 and the Board of Regents award for Teaching Excellence from Murray State University in 2005. Originally from New Delhi, Pulinkala was the artistic director of his own dance company for three years in India, served as choreographer-in-residence for Delhi Music Theatre for five years, and was named among the 25 Indian artists of the Millennium by the India Today Magazine in their December 1999 issue. 

Guest Artist Residencies

Pulinkala has choreographed and taught for a number of professional companies, colleges and arts organizations:

Henny Jurriens Foundation (2016), Israel Ballet (2015) Atlanta Ballet - Wabi Sabi (2014) FRESCO Dance Company, Israel (2013) Rialto Center for the Arts (2010, 2011, 2013) Washington University in St. Louis (2009, 2012) Brigham Young University (2011, 2013) Georgia Shakespeare (2011) gloATL (2010) Shanghai Normal University (2010) Atlanta Ballet (2006, 2007, 2009, 2010) University of South Carolina (2008) Nirvana Films (2007) Governor's School for the Arts, Tennessee (2006, 2008) The Dancer's Studio (2007) Middle Tennessee State University (2005-2007) Atlanta Gay Men's Chorus (2007, 2008) Spelman College (2006) Modern Atlanta Dance Festival (2006, 2007) Decatur Arts Festival (2006) Shanghai International Theatre Festival (2005) Shelter Repertory Dance Company (2005) Full Radius Dance Company (2005) Murray State University (2001-2005) Western Kentucky University (2004) Danceworx (2004, 2009) Vanderbilt University (2003, 2004) U.C. Berkley (2004) Mills College (2004) Contemporary Dance Exchange of Nashville (2003-2005) University of Tennessee at Martin (2003) American College Dance Festival (2004-2012) City Lights Youth Theatre (2001) Delhi Music Theatre (1994-2002) American Embassy School (1997-2002) St. George's College (1994, 1995)

Grants/Awards

Clendenin Graduate Fellowship 2010, 2011, 2012 KSU Foundation Award 2011 KSU College of the Arts Distinguished Research and Creative Activity Award 2011 Cobb Symphone Orchestra Award for Artistic Excellence 2010 NEA American Masterpiece Grant 2010-11 Board of Regents Teaching Excellence Award 2005 (Murray State University) KSU Faculty Incentive Grant 2006-07 Faculty Teaching Development Grant Faculty Professional Development Grant Committee on Institutional Studies and Research Grant Individual Artist Fellowship Program Grant at the Kentucky Arts Council Middle Tennessee State University International Guest Artist Grant

Choreography

Original choreographic works include: Forest (2021), Moon Dust (2020), Road Kill (2018, 2012), Metamorphosis (2017), 2.0 (2016), 1.0 (2015), Hypnophobia (2015), Ipomoea (2015), Rinpoche (2014), PYROMANIA (2014), TOUCHDOWN (2013), Rhizome (2011), Cocoon (2010), Lost (2010), Chakra (2009), Succubus (2009), Magnetic Fields (2009), Metastasis (2009), Incubus (2008), Hyperspace (2007), A Dream Discarded (2007), Cloud Burst (2006), Firestorm (2005), Migration (2004), No Way Out (2003), Inside My Twisted Mind (2004), Mock Abduction (2002), Touch Down (2004), Secret Garden (2003), To Be Baptized (2003), Passages (2003), Coffee Break (2003), As Time Moves On (2003), Popcorn Suite (2002), Dirty Business (2002), Offerings (2003), A New World (2002), Cycle (2002), Geometric Relationships (2001), Second Construction (2001), Slow (2000) among others.

Professional musical theatre choreography/ performance credits include: Tommy, The Music Man, West Side Story, Grease, Best Friends, Evita, Fame- the musical, Me and My Girl, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat among others.

Publications

Student Development Through a Professional Arts Presenting Series (Journal of Performing Arts Research in Higher Education)

Partnering for Change in Dance Higher Education (2014) (Research in Dance Education)
Integration of a Professional Dance into College (2011) (Research in Dance Education)  
Polyphonic Dynamics as Educational Practice (Co-authored with Karen Robinson and Ming Chen) Theatre Topics (2010)

Professional Affiliations: ArtsATL.com Board, Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund Board, Community Committee at the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center Educational Board, artsATL Advisory Board