Richmond Leader

NSF director visits VCU and calls it one of the U.S. universities that ‘matter for the future’ 

Sethuraman Panchanathan, Ph.D., director of the National Science Foundation, visited Virginia Commonwealth University on Monday, meeting with VCU leaders, touring labs and hearing from researchers about how VCU is advancing NSF-supported scientific discovery, innovation and education, and serving as a national model for bringing the “missing millions” to STEM careers and education.

“If you track the places that I go, in the last few months I was at Mississippi State University, Wichita State University, Pittsburg State University, VCU. These are the institutions that matter for the future,” Panchanathan said. “These are the institutions that bring the talent and ideas that we all know are democratized all across the country.”

Joining Panchanathan throughout the day was U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine and U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman, as well as VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D., VCU Provost Fotis Sotiropoulos, Ph.D., and other senior VCU leaders. As director of the NSF, Panchanathan has made it a priority to engage the missing millions of people from underrepresented backgrounds and socioeconomically disadvantaged communities who are capable of succeeding in STEM careers but do not have access to pathways that lead to those careers.

“When we are outcompeting nations like China, we need to bring every ounce of talent to the table. That’s the right thing to do. That’s a smart thing to do. And that’s what we term as the missing millions who need to be brought to the fore rather urgently,” he said. “Institutions like VCU are embracing talent and allowing access to the university, giving [students] the chance to exercise their talent, motivate them, inspire them and then make them available as talent that is then going to make all regions of our nation prosperous.”

Original source can be found here