U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona issued the following statement today on President Biden’s intent to nominate Dr. Nasser Paydar as Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education:

“I could not be more pleased with President Biden’s decision to nominate Dr. Nasser Paydar as assistant secretary for postsecondary education. Throughout his more than 35 years of experience as a higher education leader, Dr. Paydar has championed equitable and affordable access to postsecondary education. He also has placed an important focus on diversifying the higher education workforce. Dr. Paydar has deep experience on the ground leading institutions of higher education, including serving as vice chancellor and dean of Indiana University–Purdue University Columbus for three years and chancellor of Indiana University East for five years. And for the last 10 years, Dr. Paydar has served at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis in the roles of executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer as well as the university’s fifth chancellor. I’m confident that Dr. Paydar will advance our efforts at the Department of Education and throughout the Biden-Harris administration to provide students of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities with more inclusive, affordable postsecondary learning opportunities, whether they be college degrees or career and technical programs. I have no doubt Dr. Paydar will be an asset to the Department and hope for his swift confirmation so he can join us in this critical work.”

About Nasser Paydar

Dr. Nasser H. Paydar is chancellor emeritus of Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and executive vice president of Indiana University (IU). An IU faculty member for more than 36 years, he has held various administrative and executive leadership positions at the university. Paydar joined IUPUI in 1985 as an assistant professor of mechanical engineering. From 1989 to 2003, he held a number of positions in the school, including chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, associate dean for graduate programs, associate dean for academic programs, and executive associate dean. From 2004 to 2007, he served as vice chancellor and dean of Indiana University–Purdue University Columbus. Paydar was appointed chancellor of Indiana University East in 2007, serving in that role until he returned to IUPUI in 2012, when he was named the campus’s executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer. He became IUPUI’s fifth chancellor in 2015.

As an IUPUI faculty member, he has served as principal and co-principal investigator on research grants from federal and state agencies and private companies, including Cummins Electronics, DePuy, the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Army, and the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center. His research in the area of solid mechanics, with applications in biomechanics and electronic packaging, has been published widely in scientific journals. Paydar earned bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering from Syracuse University.