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Indian-American Arvind Raman to lead US AI standards agency
Raman will serve as acting director following Chris Fall's resignation after three months.
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Ankita Baidya - Wed, 22, Jul 2026
- 05:18 EDT
- 46
Arvind Raman / File Photo
Indian-American engineer Arvind Raman will serve as acting head of the U.S. Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI) following the resignation of director Chris Fall, the Commerce Department confirmed.
Raman, who currently serves as director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), will lead the agency while the department searches for a permanent replacement, according to a statement from Commerce Department spokesperson Kristen Eichamer.
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Chris Fall has resigned as director of the Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI), the U.S. Commerce Department's hub for evaluating artificial intelligence systems. Fall had led the agency for about three months after assuming the role in April.
Following Fall's departure, Indian-origin engineer Arvind Raman will serve as acting head of CAISI while continuing as director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), according to a statement from Commerce Department spokesperson Kristen Eichamer.
Raman, who was born in India, moved to the United States to pursue a master's degree in mechanical engineering at Purdue University, according to the American Institute of Physics. He later earned a doctorate in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, after completing a bachelor of technology degree at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, according to NIST.
Before entering government service, Raman spent more than two decades at Purdue University. He joined the faculty as an assistant professor in 2000 and was appointed the John A. Edwardson Dean of Engineering in February 2023, according to NIST and HSToday. His research has focused on atomic force microscopy, human biomechanics and electronics manufacturing, and he has collaborated with NIST scientists on nanotechnology research throughout his academic career.
President Donald Trump nominated Raman to lead NIST in October 2025. The U.S. Senate confirmed his nomination on May 18, 2026, according to the American National Standards Institute. He was sworn in on June 30 as the 18th director of NIST and the fifth under secretary of commerce for standards and technology during a ceremony led by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, according to NIST. The appointment marked Raman's first role in federal government service.
Fall previously served as senior adviser to the deputy secretary of commerce and spent three years as vice president of applied sciences at MITRE before taking charge of CAISI. Earlier in his career, he held several positions at the Department of Energy, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the Office of Naval Research.
According to Axios, a Commerce Department official said Fall's appointment had always been viewed as an interim arrangement. The report added that Raman has spent recent weeks evaluating candidates to permanently lead CAISI.
Commerce Department officials told Axios they expect to appoint a permanent director in the coming weeks as the agency continues its work on artificial intelligence evaluation and standards while the administration considers its broader approach to AI governance and oversight.
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