Ceremony Speaker

2024 Undergraduate Ceremony Speaker

Sethuraman Panchanathan

Sethuraman Panchanathan, PhD

Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan, Director of the National Science Foundation,  will speak and receive an honorary doctorate at our undergraduate ceremony.  A computer scientist and engineer with more than three decades of leadership in academia and government, Dr. Panchanathan has committed his career to scientific and technological advancements that contribute to the greater good. Among other recognitions, he has received the Governor’s Innovator of the Year for Academia Award, the Washington Academy of Sciences Distinguished Career Award and the IEEE-USA Public Service Award. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. Dr. Panchanathan was appointed by President Barack Obama to the U.S. National Science Board for a six-year term in 2014, making him the first Indian American to serve in this capacity.