Bogdan Vernescu is professor of mathematical sciences and academic leader.

His research is in applied mathematics for multiscale materials sciences, focusing on the characterization of material properties of composites, porous media, suspensions, emulsions and electrorheological/magnetorheological materials. He has published over 70 research papers, a monograph and a proceedings volume. He has held visiting positions in the US at MIT and at the University of Minnesota, in France at the University of Metz, University of Nancy, University of Savoie, University Jean-Monnet-Saint-Étienne, University of Rouen and University of Sorbonne Paris Nord, in Italy at the University of Rome La Sapienza Rome, and in Romania at the Institute of Mathematics of the Romanian Academy.

He was appointed as interim Vice Provost for Research in 2014, and as Vice Provost for Research in 2016. In 2024 he became Vice President for Research and Innovation in 2024. In this position he supports the faculty research efforts and the increase of research funding for WPI from state and federal government agencies, and corporations, and WPI’s innovation ecosystem. His responsibilities include supervising the operation and non-financial support of WPI’s research enterprise, including oversight of university-wide research institutes and centers, the offices that administer research development, sponsorship and compliance and intellectual property and innovation, including WPI’s shared research facilities. In 2025 WPI has been designated, for the first time, as an R1 (very high research activity) institution by the American Council on Education (ACE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Between 1997 and 2003 he was the founding Director of the Center for Industrial Mathematics and statistics at WPI, an academic/industry consortium that brought students and faculty to work on mathematics and statistics problems from corporate sponsors. He was Head of the Mathematical Sciences Department at WPI between 2003 and 2013.

In 2007, with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, in he co-founded and became the founding President of the National Professional STEM Master’s Association (NPSMA) and served for six years on its Board of Directors. During that period NPSMA contributed to the development of over 300 Masters' programs across colleges and universities in the US. 

He has been serving since 2018 as member of the Board of Directors of Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, the quasi state agency that supports business formation and growth in the state’s technology sector, helping Massachusetts lead in the global digital economy. He is currently the Vice Co-Chair of the Board.

He is member of the Board of Directors of the NDIA New England Chapter, chair of the Board of Trustees of the Romanian-American Foundation, member of the Board of Directors of the Worcester Regional Research Bureau, and member of the Board of Directors of the ASSISTments Foundation.

In 2025, Vernescu was named to the Power 100 List of most influential professionals by the Worcester Business Journal.

Vernescu originally joined WPI in 1991 as a faculty member in the Mathematical Sciences department. Before arriving at WPI, Vernescu was a researcher at the Institute of Mathematics of the Romanian Academy. He earned BS and MS degrees in applied mathematics from the University of Bucharest, and a PhD in mathematics from the Institute of Mathematics of the Romanian Academy.