Subra Suresh

Biography

 Subra Suresh is a scientist, researcher, academic, and most recently served as the president of Carnegie Mellon University from 2013 to 2017. On 13 July 2017, it was announced that he would be taking over as President of Nanyang Technological University, Singaporewith effect from 1 January 2018. Suresh served as Director of the National Science Foundation from 2010 to 2013. Before his appointment to NSF, he was the Vannevar Bush Professor of Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he was the Dean of the School of Engineering (2007-2010). In October 2013, Suresh was elected to the Institute of Medicine, now known as the National Academy of Medicine, the branch of the U.S. National Academies that honors researchers in medicine and health care. He already had been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (2012) and the National Academy of Engineering (2002). Suresh is one of only 19 American scientists to be elected to all three branches, and the only current university president to hold this distinction. He is the first Asian-born professor to lead any of the five schools at MIT and the first Asian-born scientist to lead NSF.[1] His appointment as president of Carnegie Mellon University was announced on 5 February 2013.[2] Commenting on Suresh's tenure at NSF, President Obama stated, "We have been very fortunate to have Subra Suresh guiding the National Science Foundation... He has shown himself to be a consummate scientist and engineer – beholden to evidence and committed to upholding the highest scientific standards. He has also done his part to make sure the American people benefit from advances in technology, and opened up more opportunities for women, minorities, and other underrepresented groups. I am grateful for his service."[3] President Suresh stepped down from his position at Carnegie Mellon University on 30 June 2017.[4] On 13 July 2017, Suresh was named the 4th President of Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (Singapore NTU), succeeding Professor Bertil Andersson. He will begin his presidency on 1 January 2018

Research Interest

 His experimental research focuses on modeling of the mechanical properties of structural and functional materials, the design and characterization of possible connections between cellular nanomechanical processes and on the study of human disease states. Some of this work has spawned new fields in the fertile interdisciplinary intersections of traditional disciplines in engineering, physical sciences, life sciences, and medicine. More than 100 students, postdoctoral fellows, and visiting scholars have been members of his research group, and many of them now occupy prominent positions in academia, industry, and government worldwide.