This week with NSF Director Panchanathan

This week, NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan underscored the agency's commitment to creating pathways and on-ramps for anyone to be able to join the STEM enterprise. On Friday, the director attended a roundtable hosted by Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA) on the importance of STEM education at Virginia Commonwealth University. Other panelists included the Center for Innovation in STEM Education at VCU School of Education Acting Director and three-time NSF grant recipient John Fife and CodeRVA Regional High School Executive Director Kume Goranson. 

The director spoke of the important role STEM education plays in ensuring that an additional 4 million people will be brought into the STEM workforce by 2030 to fulfill critical needs of the nation’s STEM ecosystem. To energize the talent that exists in every corner of the nation, NSF is scaling established programs and introducing new initiatives in key areas around workforce development, supporting a lifetime of learning, opening doors to STEM education, advancing careers in STEM, and retaining STEM talent.

Learn more about how NSF's Directorate for STEM Education is preparing a diverse STEM workforce and a well-informed citizenry.