President Obama announces new appointees to National Science Board

June 17, 2014

President Barack Obama has announced his intent to appoint six new members to the National Science Board, the policymaking body of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and advisor to Congress and the President on science and engineering policy.

John Anderson (Illinois Institute of Technology), Roger Beachy (University of California, Davis), Vicki Chandler (Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation), Robert Groves (Georgetown University), James Jackson (University of Michigan), and Sethuraman Panchanathan (Arizona State University) will be sworn in during the August Board meeting and will serve six-year terms on the 24-member Board.

"We are excited to welcome this outstanding group of accomplished scientists and administrators to the National Science Board," said Dan Arvizu, Board Chairman. "The Board and NSF will be well served by their collective wealth of experiences, expertise, and insights."

John L. Anderson is a professor of chemical engineering and is currently serving as the eighth president of the Illinois Institute of Technology. A member of the National Academy of Engineering, Anderson formerly served as provost of Case Western Reserve University and dean of the College of Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University.

Roger N. Beachy is the founding executive director of the World Food Center at UC Davis. Previous positions include serving as the first director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture and as president of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis.

Vicki L. Chandler is a distinguished plant biologist and former director of the BIO5 Institute at the University of Arizona. She is currently the chief program officer for the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation where she leads the science program. A member of the National Academy of Sciences, Chandler is president of the Genetics Society of America.

Robert M. Groves is a sociologist and expert in survey methodology. He was the 23rd director of the United States Census Bureau and is currently the provost and Gerard Campbell SJ Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Georgetown University.

James S. Jackson directs the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research where his work focuses on racial and ethnic influences on life course development among African Americans. He served on the Council of the National Institute on Aging and is a fellow of several scientific societies, including the American Psychological Association.

Sethuraman Panchanathan is the senior vice president for knowledge enterprise development at Arizona State University. He also directs the Center for Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing and founded the university's School of Computing and Informatics and Department of Biomedical Informatics.

Appointments to the two remaining Board vacancies are anticipated in the coming months.

About the National Science Board

The NSB is the policymaking body for the National Science Foundation. NSB also advises the President and Congress on science and engineering policy issues. The Board's 24 members are drawn primarily from universities and industry and represent a variety of science and engineering disciplines. Selected for their eminence in research, education or public service and records of distinguished service, Board members serve six-year terms. NSF's Director is an ex officio 25th member of the Board.

-NSF-

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