The following is a statement from the Association of American Universities regarding the departure of Sethuraman Panchanathan as director of the National Science Foundation.
As Sethuraman Panchanathan steps down from his role as director of the National Science Foundation, the AAU community is grateful for his leadership and legacy at the agency.
During his tenure, Panch worked tirelessly to raise the visibility of NSF, and to challenge the agency to build on its long history of success. He helped shepherd the CHIPS and Science Act – a major piece of legislation that reauthorized the agency for five years and established the Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) – from infancy to law. He built durable, bipartisan relationships with Congress as well as public and private stakeholders in all regions of our country. And through his efforts to broaden participation in STEM fields, he prioritized engagement of the entire country in NSF work and articulated how full participation of the wider U.S. population is key to maintaining our competitive advantages.
Panch’s energetic and collaborative approach as director advanced NSF into an even stronger engine of innovation and U.S. competitiveness. We wish him well in his future endeavors.
We agree, in Director Panchanathan’s words, that “this is a pivotal moment for our nation in terms of global competitiveness” and that “NSF is an extremely important investment to make U.S. scientific dominance a reality. We must not lose our competitive edge.”
Founded in 1900, the Association of American Universities is composed of America’s leading research universities. AAU’s 71 research universities transform lives through education, research, and innovation.
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