Director, National Science Foundation As science increasingly becomes the backbone of the world’s aspiring and competing nations, the web of collaboration and competition grows tighter. What kept the United States ahead of the pack for many decades will not be enough to sustain us in the new global environment, according to Dr. Suresh. Previously, Dr. Suresh served as dean of the engineering school and as Vannevar Bush Professor of Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). A mechanical engineer who later became interested in materials science and biology, Dr. Suresh has done pioneering work on the biomechanics of blood cells under the influence of diseases such as malaria. From 2000 to 2006, he served as the head of the MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering. He joined MIT in 1993 as the R.P. Simmons Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and held joint faculty appointments in the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Biological Engineering as well as the Division of Health Sciences and Technology. Suresh holds a bachelor's degree from the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, a master's degree from Iowa State University, and a doctorate from MIT.