Kumble R. Subbaswamy is an Indian physicist and college administrator who served as the 11th chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

He served as research associate in the department of physics at the University of California, Irvine from 1976 to 1978.

[8] He later joined as assistant professor at University of Kentucky in 1978 and rose to become the chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy from 1993 to 1997.

[8] After becoming chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2012, he and his wife worked with the UMass Permaculture Committee[9] to create a sustainable garden featuring Southeast Asian plants at their Hillside residence on campus.

[11] He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters[12] from Indiana University Bloomington during 2019 Winter Commencement.