Subra Suresh Joins Caltech’s Board of Trustees

Photo: Carnegie Mellon University

India-West Staff Reporter

PASADENA, CA – Subra Suresh, the Vannevar Bush Professor of Engineering Emeritus at MIT and president of the Global Learning Council, an education-focused innovation platform, is also now a Caltech trustee.

Passionate about education, diversity, and equity in STEM, and nurturing a global perspective among scientists and engineers, Suresh discussed his early connection to Caltech and what makes the Institute special.

“I had the pleasure and the privilege of spending two sabbaticals at Caltech at different times, one around 1999 in GALCIT and the other in 2004 as the Gordon Moore Scholar,” Suresh recalled. He fondly remembers chatting about his research with Moore himself for two hours when the Intel Corp. co-founder visited his office.

“One of the things that has always impressed me about Caltech is the impact it has had on new scientific discoveries, innovation, translation of science to industry, start-ups, and leadership in different domains all over the globe, especially given its extremely small size,” he said.

Last year, Suresh was awarded the National Medal of Science, the highest honor for a scientist or engineer in the United States, by President Joe Biden.

Suresh also serves as Brown University Professor at Large, a member of the Board of Governors of the New York Academy of Sciences, a member of the Board of Overseers of Koç University in Istanbul, and a member of the Board of Directors of Singapore Exchange.

A former director of the National Science Foundation, Suresh designed and created the Innovation Corps program, a successful initiative focused on translating scientific discoveries into commercial applications. He previously served as dean of engineering at MIT and professor of engineering at Brown University.

At Carnegie Mellon, Suresh launched the institution’s largest infrastructure development initiative in decades, leading to the creation of the Tepper Quadrangle and the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship.

Suresh has authored three books and more than 300 research articles. He also has 30 patent applications.