FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 26, 2022
Media Contact:
Mary Tablante, Asian American Scholar Forum, media@aasforum.org
Washington, D.C.—On Thursday, the Senate confirmed Dr. Arati Prabhakar as the next director for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in a 56-40 bipartisan vote. She is the first woman and first person of color confirmed by the Senate to lead OSTP. Prabhakar is an engineer and former director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Asian American Scholar Forum issues the following statement:
“We applaud the historic confirmation of Dr. Arati Prabhakar. She also made history as the first woman to lead the National Institute of Standards and Technology. She has had a broad and distinctive experience in working with federal R&D agencies, large and small companies, universities and government labs, guiding innovative solutions across a spectrum of technologies. She brings an informed and personal understanding of the vast contributions to the U.S., made by talented immigrant scientists and engineers.
We hope to work with her on the pressing issue of the targeting of scientists, researchers, and scholars of Asian descent. Prabhakar’s confirmation enhances representation of our communities in a high position of leadership and influence in the Presidential cabinet and amplifies our visibility and voice.”
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Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF) promotes academic belonging, openness, freedom, and equality for all and represents more than 7,000 scientists, researchers, and scholars in the U.S.. In response to heightened anti-Asian sentiments in the U.S. and increasing profiling of Chinese Americans and immigrants in science, AASF has been a leading national voice fighting for the rights of Asian American and immigrant scientists, researchers, and scholars.