World News | Indian American NSF Director Panchanathan to Deliver 3 Commencement Addresses

Washington, Apr 6 (PTI) National Science Foundation Director Sethuraman Panchanathan, the highest-ranking Indian American scientific official in the Biden administration, is scheduled to deliver three commencement addresses this summer, including one at the prestigious Northeastern University in Boston.

Panchanathan would deliver the commencement speeches to the graduating classes and receive honorary doctorates at each of the three universities. These are the Northeastern University, Graduate Commencement on May 5 in Boston; University of Maryland Baltimore County, Undergraduate Commencement (College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, College of Engineering and Information Technology, Division of Undergraduate Academic Affairs) on May 23 in Baltimore and the University of Ottawa, convocation ceremony for the Faculty of Engineering on June 8.

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“Many of the greatest challenges of our time pose questions that only science can answer,” said Joseph E Aoun, president of Northeastern.

“The unrelenting quest to solve global problems is powered by the brilliant minds of scientists and the unwavering support of federal agencies like the NSF. Director Panchanathan's leadership has been a force in recognising the groundbreaking challenges and opportunities of cutting-edge science, particularly artificial intelligence. We welcome him back to Northeastern,” he said.

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Panchanathan, a computer scientist and engineer, was named NSF in June 2020. The NSF, which has a budget of about USD 9.5 billion, is an independent federal agency charged with advancing scientific discovery, technological innovation and STEM education in the United States.

The Indian American scientist has earlier spoken at the grand opening of Northeastern's 357,000-square-foot EXP research complex on the university's Boston campus in the fall.

“I had a fantastic opportunity to visit Northeastern University for the grand opening of the EXP research complex last October,” Panchanathan said.

"I'm sincerely delighted to be returning to Northeastern University in May to celebrate this year's graduates. Their Northeastern education has given them everything they need to succeed in a future that is rich with opportunities,” he said in a statement.

In an editorial in the scientific journal PNAS Nexus last month, Panchanathan called for the responsible and equitable development of artificial intelligence. He said the NSF annually spends about USD 800 million on AI research in the public interest. In January, NSF, other federal agencies and private sector partners launched the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource pilot, a first step toward shared national research infrastructure.

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