Indian-origin professor to lead MIT's School of Engineering
Indian-origin academician Anantha Chandrakasan has been named dean of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's School of Engineering. The Vannevar Bush Professor and head of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) will succeed Ian Waitz on 1 July, who will become the Vice-Chancellor of MIT. Chandrakasan initiated several initiatives for students, post-docs, and faculty during his six-year long tenure as the EECS head.
Always wanted to be an engineer and professor
Chandrakasan was born in Chennai and moved to the US while in high school. He earned his BS (1989), MS (1990), and PhD (1994) from the University of California; he joined the MIT faculty in 1994. He constituted a significant research body for making energy efficient electronic circuits. His work on low-power chips helped in developing smartphones and other mobile devices.
Anantha will help make all of MIT stronger: MIT President
MIT President L. Rafael Reif stated, "Anantha balances his intellectual creativity and infectious energy with a remarkable ability to deeply listen to, learn from, and integrate other people's views into a compelling vision."
Launched number of initiatives
As the head of EECS, Chandrakasan launched several initiatives for the students of the department to enhance their experience and create exciting opportunities. Most initiatives were developed with students' input. Some of them are: Advanced Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (SuperUROP), Rising Stars (annual event for graduate/post-doc women), Postdoc6 (for developing skills), and StartMIT (an opportunity to learn from and interact with industry leaders).
Chandrakasan, a people-centered and innovative leader: Provost Schmidt
MIT Provost Martin Schmidt said Chandrakasan is innovative and people-centered. Schmidt said he is excited for the opportunities the new dean will create for the School of Engineering. Chandrakasan said one of the key things he is keen to do as the dean is directly connecting with students. He is also passionate about helping the faculty explore new research areas.
Received several awards, honors, publications
Chandrakasan received several awards, including Semiconductor Industry Association University Researcher Award (2009) and IEEE Donald O. Pederson Award in Solid-State Circuits (2013). He is the author with most number of publications in the 60-year history of IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference. He is a board member and Advisory Committee Chairman for The Engine, MIT's accelerator to support start-ups working on scientific, technological innovation.
