Dr. Subra Suresh, the director of the National Science Foundation, announced on 5 February 2013 that he will leave the agency at the end of March. Dr. Suresh has accepted an appointment as the ninth president of Carnegie Mellon University.
“It has been my extraordinary honor to lead the National Science Foundation, which is blessed with a marvelous cohort of highly talented and devoted staff, as well as hundreds of thousands of innovative grantees and investigators from every field of science and engineering,†said Dr. Suresh in an email to staff.  “I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the country in this capacity.â€
Dr. John Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy said, “Subra has made critical contributions to a broad range of science and technology priorities, including expanding federal investments in fundamental research, accelerating the commercialization of university research, and strengthening our scientific collaborations with partners around the world.  He also leaves a crucially important legacy of having expanded NSF’s family-friendly policies, which make it easier for young scientists to balance the challenges of furthering their careers while raising a family.â€
Dr. Suresh was confirmed for a six-year term as director of NSF in September 2010. Â Prior to assuming his current role, Suresh served as the dean of the School of Engineering and the Vannevar Bush Professor of Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.