The University of Houston President says serving on the “council is both an honor and a serious responsibility.”
Renu Khator, the Indian American president of University of Houston and one of the top woman academicians in the United States, has been appointed as a member of US Department of Homeland Security’s Academic Advisory Council.
The appointment was announced by the US Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson on Wednesday.
Khator, who is currently the Chancellor of the University of Houston System, will join the council, which includes college presidents, academic leaders and inter-agency partners. The panel provides advice and recommendations to the secretary on matters related to homeland security and the academic community.
The Homeland Security’s Academic Advisory Council was founded in 2012 and as of now it has made more than 120 recommendations in the areas of academic research, faculty exchange, campus resilience, cybersecurity and international students. It also makes adequate inferences to academic programs and recruitment of current students and graduates.
Khator was selected based on her prolific career as an academic and higher education leader. Her leadership while at the University of Houston in doing homeland security research also added to her merits while being considered for the Advisory Council, according to DHS.
In 2015 the department named the University of Houston as the lead institution for a new DHS Center of Excellence (COE) for Borders, Trade, and Immigration Research. It is also the only university in Texas with dual designation by the National Security Agency and the DHS for its educational and research programs in cyber security and cyber defense.
Khator was quoted by PTI saying, “Serving on this council is both an honor and a serious responsibility.”
“There can be no more important task than maintaining the safety of our country. Through research, innovation and workforce development, higher education must continue to play a vital role in helping DHS meet that crucial objective,” she told the agency.
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Trent Frazier, executive director of the Office of Academic Engagement, said, “What President Khator brings is not only a deep understanding of the issues facing our campuses but also a firm grasp of the mission of DHS through her work at the University of Houston. DHS and OAE are excited to further collaborate with her.”
Khator, who was born in Uttar Pradesh, completed her bachelor’s degree at University of Kanpur and later joined Purdue University, where she perused masters and doctorate degrees in political science and public administration.
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Khator also chairs the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Board of Directors and is also the former president of the American Council on Education.
She is also a member of NCAA Division I Presidential Forum, a member-led organization dedicated to the well-being and lifelong success of college athletes.
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She is the first female chancellor for Texas higher education system and the first Indian American to head a comprehensive public research university in the United States.
Renu Khator became the third person to hold a dual position of University of Houston System chancellor and University of Houston president after her appointment on January 15, 2008.