WEST LAFAYETTE, IN — Purdue University’s Arvind Raman, John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering, has been tapped by President Donald Trump to lead the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Trump submitted the nomination on Oct. 2, according to the U.S. Congress website, just one day after the government shutdown. The nomination was subsequently received by the U.S. Senate and has been referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
The nomination comes after Trump publicly denounced, during a February press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate, a $70 million USAID-funded initiative for which Raman formerly served as the principal investigator.
“$70 million for a center at Purdue to research university-sourced evidence-based solutions to developmental challenges,” Trump said during the Feb. 18 press conference. “I mean, these are massive numbers on things that nobody ever heard about.”
The Purdue-led consortium, announced in August 2018, was selected as the winning bid among more than 100 submissions for USAID’s Long-Term Assistance and Services for Research agreement, according to a Purdue news release, which sought to leverage the resources and expertise to find solutions to development challenges in low- to middle-income countries.
In an email to Purdue faculty and staff on Wednesday, Purdue Provost Patrick Wolfe said the university is proud and supportive of its faculty and staff when selected for public service roles.
“This is an undersecretary role in Commerce which requires confirmation in the months ahead — the precise timing of which is uncertain,” Wolfe said in the email. “Consequently, Arvind will remain in his current Purdue role until such time as his confirmation is finalized and he is set to begin his new role in the spring. When we approach that point, an interim dean will be named and a national search for the next dean launched.”
Raman earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1991, followed by a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue in 1993. Raman earned his doctorate in mechanical engineering in 1999 from the University of California, Berkley.
Raman joined Purdue’s faculty in 2014, holding several administrative roles before being tapped to serve as the College of Engineering dean in 2023, preceding now-President Mung Chiang as dean.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Trump taps Purdue engineering dean to lead national institute; Raman to begin in spring
Reporting by Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
