India-born academician becomes new dean at MIT
One of the most prestigious schools in the United States of America (US) will now be headed by Indian origin academician who has been part of the institute since 1994.
The prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) engineering school is now going to be headed by an India-born academician.
Chennai-born Anantha Chandrakasan, who was previously the head of Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), was given his new title last month.
Chandrakasan is succeeding Ian Waitz who is now MIT’s vice chancellor, a statement from MIT said.
Chandrakasan, previously led MIT’s largest academic department for six years and spearheaded a number of initiatives that opened opportunities for students, postdocs, and faculty to conduct research, explore entrepreneurial projects.
An Indian daily quoted MIT president Rafael Reif saying that in a time of significant challenges, from new pressures on federal funding to the rising global competition for top engineering talent, he is confident that Chandrakasan will guide the school of engineering to maintain and enhance its position of leadership.
“And I believe that in the process he will help make all of MIT stronger, too,” Reif said.
Since the time he joined MIT faculty in 1994, Chandrakasan has been a significant part of research focussed largely on making electronic circuits more energy efficient.
Chandrakasan also initiated the ‘Rising Stars’ programme in EECS, an annual event that assembles graduate and postdoc women for the purpose of sharing advice about the early stages of an academic career. “I’m very passionate about helping our faculty explore new research areas,” Chandrakasan was quoted saying.
Chandrakasan has many awards to his credit, including the 2009 Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) University Researcher Award, the 2013 IEEE Donald O Pederson Award in Solid-State Circuits, an honorary doctorate from KU Leuven in 2016, and the UC Berkeley EE Distinguished Alumni Award.
