Newswise — U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker today announced the appointment of 30 private sector, nonprofit and academic leaders—including UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla—to serve on the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE). Selected from a pool of more than 200 accomplished applicants, the council members will offer recommendations for policies and programs designed to make U.S. communities, businesses, and the workforce more globally competitive.

“The members of NACIE provide important counsel to the Department of Commerce on the types of federal policies that will support entrepreneurship, innovation and job-driven workforce training, all of which are critical to American competitiveness,” said Secretary Pritzker. “As ‘America’s Innovation Agency,’ we value the expertise of our private sector partners and appreciate the opportunity to incorporate their views into our policymaking process.”

Established in 2010, NACIE operates as an independent entity managed through the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which is housed in the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration.

“I am honored to be appointed to the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship,” said Chancellor Khosla. “Entrepreneurship and innovation are integral to the culture at UC San Diego. Being a member of NACIE offers a valuable opportunity to share ideas with a prestigious group of leaders to help make America more competitive globally.”

Pradeep K. Khosla is the eighth chancellor of UC San Diego. As UC San Diego’s chief executive officer, he leads a campus with more than 30,000 students, six undergraduate colleges, five academic divisions and five graduate and professional schools. UC San Diego is an academic and research powerhouse, with faculty, researchers and staff attracting more than $1 billion annually in research funding. While at UC San Diego, Khosla has initiated and led a comprehensive strategic planning process to unify the campus and define UC San Diego’s future resulting in a Strategic Plan that outlines five overarching goals, four grand research themes and 13 strategies to fulfill its sharpened mission and vision as a student-centered, research-focused, service-oriented public university.

An internationally renowned electrical and computer engineer, he previously served as dean of the College of Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. Khosla is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Society for Engineering Education. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Association for Advancement of Science, the American Association of Artificial Intelligence and the Indian Academy of Engineering.

NACIE members, who will each serve a two-year term, have demonstrated expertise and experience in the areas of innovation, entrepreneurship and employer-driven talent development. In reviewing applications, the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship sought a diverse group of nationally recognized leaders representing different demographics, organization size, industry sector and geographic regions to provide a balanced viewpoint on these issues. NACIE will convene four times each year, with its inaugural meeting scheduled for October 2016.

To learn more about the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, visit the website.

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