In June, 2020, Sethuraman “Panch” Panchanathan was appointed by U.S. President Donald Trump as Director of the National Science Foundation. Panch previously spent more than 20 years in leadership positions at Arizona State University, including service as Executive Vice President of ASU’s Knowledge Enterprise and Chief Research and Technology Officer for ASU. He is officially on an extended leave of absence from the university as he devotes his time to advancing the U.S. science and technology agenda on a national and global scale.