The task force was created in coordination with the Biden administration’s U.S.-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET), which seeks to grow technological and industrial collaboration between the two nations.
A group of renowned Indian-origin academicians were appointed with varying roles to the newly created task force of The Association of American Universities (AAU), that aims to expand research and higher education partnerships between the United States and India.
The co-chairs of the AAU Task Force include Pennsylvania State University president Neeli Bendapudi, University of California San Diego chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla, University at Buffalo president Satish K. Tripathi, and current Johns Hopkins University Provost, senior vice president for Academic Affairs Sunil Kumar, who is set to become president of Tufts University on July 1, 2023.
The task force was announced by AAU President Barbara Snyder during the launch of the U.S.-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology which was jointly launched by U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi in May 2022.
As per the mandate, the task force will make efforts to advance academic and research partnerships between both sides. The group of academicians are set to meet monthly to determine key focus areas for bilateral research and education cooperation, to identify existing programs that could provide blueprints for future partnerships, and to formulate strategies on how best to move forward, AAU said in a statement.
In addition to the co-chairs, several Indian-origin members from various universities were inducted into the task force. They include dean of engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Venkataramanan Balakrishnan, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, Emory University, Ravi V. Bellamkonda, vice president for research and economic development, University at Buffalo, Venu Govindaraju, chief, Division of Infectious Diseases, Johns Hopkins University, Amita Gupta, professor and Qualcomm endowed chair, to name a few.
AAU is composed of America’s leading research universities. Association’s member universities collectively help shape policy for higher education, science, and innovation; promote best practices in undergraduate and graduate education; and strengthen the contributions of leading research universities to American society.
