Who is Sethuraman Panchanathan? Trump-appointed Indian-origin NSF director resigns

Sethuraman Panchanathan, director of the United States' National Science Foundation (NSF), appointed by US President Donald Trump in 2020, has resigned amid furore over DOGE-led federal cuts to the foundation, job layoffs and pressure over diverity, equity, and inclusion and (DEI) policies.

In a memo to NSF employees on April 24, Sethuraman Panchanathan said he had resigned from the post, in what came as a shock move to staffers, US news publication MSNBC reported. According to an AP report, he first defended the NSF's moves amid the Donald Trump administration's and DOGE diktats, but then suddenly quit saying he has “done all I can do”.

“I believe that I have done all I can to advance the mission of the agency and feel that it is time for me to pass the baton to new leadership. This is a pivotal moment for our nation in terms of global competitiveness. NSF is an extremely important investment to make US scientific dominance a reality. We must not lose our competitive edge,” his statement said.

Who is Sethuraman Panchanathan?

Appointed as the 15th Director of the NSF in 2020 by Donald Trump, for a term of six years, Sethuraman Panchanathan was scheduled to hold the post at least until 2026.

Soon after taking helms, Panchanathan identified three pillars of his vision for the NSF: advancing research into the future, ensuring inclusivity and continuing global leadership in science and engineering.

Born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu in 1960, the Indian–American computer scientist and academic administrator, completed his M.Sc. and M.Tech in India, before earning his Ph.D. from the University of Ottowa, Canada. He is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore, and Vivekananda College (Madras University).

Sethuraman Panchanathan received the fourth-highest civilian award, the Padma Shri, from the Indian government in January 2015.

Sethuraman Panchanathan's Career Timeline

• In 1989, assistant professor at University of Ottawa; and promoted to associate professor in 1994.
• In 1997, he moved to Arizona State University (ASU, US) to teach at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering; and in 2001 was promoted to full professor at ASU's Department of Computer Science and Engineering.
• In 2001, founded the Center for Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing (CUbiC) and made IEEE fellow for his contributions to compressed domain processing and indexing in visual computing and communications.
• When he left ASU in 2016, he was executive vice president of Knowledge Enterprise Development and chief research and innovation officer.
• A fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, and a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, he is also a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Society of Optical Engineering.
• At the NSF: He was nominated to the NSF's National Science Board in 2014 by then-US President Barack Obama; and in 2019, Donald Trump nominated Sethuraman Panchanathan as Director of the NSF. He assumed office on June 23, 2020.
• Sethuraman Panchanathan is the second Indian-American ever to be nominated to the prestigious science position. The first was Dr Subra Suresh who served from October 2010 to March 2013.

About the NSF: What Does It Do? What Are The Troubles?

Founded in 1950, the NSF has a $9 billion federal budget which is a “resource lifeline” to fund seeking professors and young researchers. But lately the foundation and DOGE have butted heats over what the newly formed department calls “wasteful DEI” projects.

The NSF in April said that it would cancel “hundreds of grants” of more than $230 million, amid push for spending and job cuts by the Elon Musk-led Department of Governmet Efficiency aka DOGE, CNN reported.

As per the AP report, over 380 grant porjects have been chopped so far, but the NSF has declined to share the exact number. In a post on X, DOGE claimed that the NSF has canceled “402 wasteful DEI grants” of $233 million. It however did not state how many grants have already been sanctioned — these typically last for years.

The NSF also refused to deny or confirm if more cuts are imminent.

(With inputs from AP)