Who is Sethuraman Panchanathan? NSF chief resigns amid Trump's funding cuts

UPDATED: Apr 27, 2025 07:51 IST

Indian-origin US scientist Sethuraman Panchanathan, who was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2020, has stepped down as Director of the Science Foundation (NSF), cutting short his six-year term with just over a year remaining. His resignation comes at a time of political headwinds and deep federal cuts targeting agency budgets and the broader federal workforce.

In an all-staff memo, Panchanathan stated, "I believe 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."

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While he did not explicitly cite reasons, the timing coincides with mounting pressure from the Trump administration to slash NSF’s USD 9 billion annual budget, scale down staffing, and cut funding for programs aligned with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) — priorities Panchanathan strongly advocated.

Who is Sethuraman Panchanathan?

Born and raised in Chennai, India, Panchanathan is an alumnus of Vivekananda College, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), and IIT Madras, where he completed his M.Sc. and M.Tech before earning his Ph.D. in Canada.

His early academic focus blossomed into pioneering work in assistive and rehabilitative technologies, human-centered multimedia computing, and haptic user interfaces.

Before leading the NSF, Panchanathan served as Executive Vice President at Arizona State University, where he also founded the Center for Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing (CUbiC). His work earned wide acclaim, including for developing technology that improved accessibility for individuals with disabilities.

Appointed by President Trump in 2020, Panchanathan's leadership at NSF saw deepened international collaborations, notably the 2023 US-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies.

Despite his initial appointment under a Republican administration, his strong advocacy for inclusive science and global research partnerships increasingly clashed with a shifting political climate that viewed many of NSF’s initiatives as wasteful.