09/04/2026
To our GSM Community: Sharing an update from UC Davis Leadership regarding two beloved members of our community, Rao and Vasu Unnava. We empathize with many of you during this uncertain and extremely difficult time. We encourage you to continue to lift each other up and keep the Unnavas and their family in your thoughts and prayers.
To the UC Davis community:
We are asking that you send thoughts and prayers to Rao and Vasu Unnava and their family. These two beloved members of the UC Davis community are among the thousands missing in the recent Nepal-Tibet flash floods.
We understand they were staying in a hotel in Timure, Nepal, a few kilometers from the border of Nepal and Tibet, when the flash floods occurred on August 26. They have not been located or heard from since then.
Rao stepped down on July 1 as dean of our Graduate School of Management (GSM), where he served for a decade. He is currently on sabbatical this year and will be working with the Institute for Innovation on Food and Health before returning to the school’s faculty as a professor of marketing. Vasu is an adjunct associate professor at the Graduate School of Management who teaches marketing and studies consumer behavior.
They have touched countless through their work at the Graduate School of Management and throughout their careers in higher education. We are grateful to both Rao and Vasu for their contributions that extend far beyond GSM and UC Davis.
Currently, the University of California’s global risk management, security, and crisis response contractor is working with authorities and agencies in Nepal, along with the U.S. State Department, to locate Rao and Vasu. The Unnavas' children and extended family are also pursuing every available avenue to obtain information and requested assistance from U.S. government agencies.
During this anxious time of uncertainty, students can contact Student Health and Counseling Services for help. Mental health and wellness support is available to faculty and staff through the Academic and Staff Assistance Program.
We continue to hope Rao and Vasu will be found safe and sound. Again, please keep them, their children, and extended family in your thoughts and prayers.
Gary S. May
Chancellor
Mary Croughan
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor
https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/message-chancellor-and-provost-about-unnavas
Image description: A composite image of Mrak Hall lawn with a dark blue overlay that reads, "Message from Chancellor and Provost About the Unnavas", with a yellow line line underneath and the date of September 3, 2026 below with a white UC Davis word mark in the bottom right corner.
