University of Delaware President Dennis Assanis has been selected by President Joe Biden to serve on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, the school announced Thursday.
The council makes science, technology and innovation policy recommendations to the president.
“I am truly honored to serve our country as a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology,” Assanis said.
Innovation has a “critical role in advancing societal progress,” and addressing the “needs of current and future generations,” he said.
Assanis, University of Delaware’s president since 2016, has a longstanding career in academic leadership and is known for his contributions to the field of clean energy and power systems.
In 2008, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering which cited his contributions to “improving fuel economy and reducing emissions.” In 2019, Assanis was elected as a member of the National Commission on Innovation and Competitiveness Frontiers, an organization that oversees the deployment of new technologies to enhance innovation infrastructure and increase global productivity.
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Assanis serves as the founding board member for the Delaware Innovation Space, Inc., a partnership among the state of Delaware, DuPont, and the University of Delaware, to fund science-based startups and entrepreneurs in developing new and innovative ecosystems.
He is also a board member of the Delaware Health Sciences Alliance among ChristianaCare, Nemours/Alfred I. DuPont Hospital for Children, Thomas Jefferson University, and the University of Delaware, and is on the board of Delaware Technology Park.
Other than Assanis, two members of the University of Delaware have received new federal appointments recently.
Lynette Overby, director of UD’s community engagement initiative was appointed by Biden to be a member of the National Endowment for the Humanities advisory board last year. In March, AmeriCorps announced the appointment of Cathy McLaughlin, the executive director at UD Biden Institute for Public Policy & Administration, as a member of the agency’s board of directors
Contact the reporter Yusra Asif @ yqureshi@delawareonline.com
