New Director for NSF�s Math Sciences Division

June 22, 2010

Sastry Pantula, a professor of statistics at North Carolina State University, will succeed Peter March as director of the Division of Mathematical Sciences at the National Science Foundation. NSF announced the appointment, which becomes effective on September 13, as this issue of SIAM News went to press.

Pantula has been at NCSU since 1994, as chair of the Department of Statistics since 2002. He is the current president and a fellow of the American Statistical Association.

Time series analysis and linear and nonlinear models are among Pantula's research interests. He is a co-author (with John Rawlings and David Dickey) of the textbook Applied Regression Analysis: A Research Tool.

As an author ("My Trip to the Hill," an article that appeared originally in the ASA's Amstat News), Pantula came to the attention of SIAM's Science Policy Committee, which found in the article useful guidance for making effective visits to congressional offices.

DMS is one of five divisions in NSF's Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate. "I look forward to working with Dr. Pantula in this important leadership role for mathematical sciences," acting MPS head H. Edward Seidel said of the appointment. Seidel, formerly (since 2008) director of the Office of Cyberinfrastructure at NSF, thanked Peter March for his contributions during his four years as DMS director: "Dr. March has done a tremendous amount for the division, directorate, and community, leaving DMS in great shape for Dr. Pantula."

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