Confirmed in June of 2020, Director Sethuraman Panchanathan, known informally as “Panch,” has since been serving as the 15th director of the National Science Foundation in the United States. “Panch” as he is popularly called, has over 30 years of experience in the field and has furthered research innovation, global development, and economic growth amongst much else. He has mentored many of the members of current leadership in academia and the STEM field. Panch has also received awards including the Distinguished Alumnus Awards and the Governor’s Innovator of the Year for Academia award, recognizing his developments. He also currently serves as a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Canadian Academy of Engineering, the Association for Computing Machinery, the Institute of Electrical adn Electronics Engineers and the Society of Optical Engineering.
Previously, Panch was the chair of the Committee on Strategy on the National Science Board, and was a member of the External Engagement and National Science and Engineering Policy committees. He has many other significant leadership positions in the science and technology field in addition to the above. Panchanathan has also served as the executive vice president of the Arizona State University (ASU) Knowledge Enterprise, he was also chief research and innovation officer. He was the founder and director of the Center for Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing there as well, and helped ASU earn recognition and as the fastest growing and most innovative research university in the US.
Panch earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Madras in Physics, then received a B.E. in Electronics and Communication Engineering from the Indian Institue of Science in Bangalore. He completeted his M.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in Electrical Engineering, and received his Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Ottowa in Canada.