Closing Keynote | Sunil Iyengar

Sunil Iyengar directs the Office of Research & Analysis at the National Endowment for the Arts. Under his leadership, the office has produced dozens of research reports, hosted events and webinars, and established research partnerships with the U.S Census Bureau, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the National Center for Education Statistics, and the National Science Foundation. His office also leads agency strategic planning, program evaluations, and performance measurement. Iyengar and his team have designed and implemented three long-term research agendas, founded a national data repository for the arts, and launched two award programs for arts researchers, including the NEA Research Labs initiative. He chaired a federal Interagency Task Force on the Arts and Human Development from 2011 to 2023, and his office provides research support to Creative Forces: NEA Military Arts Healing Network. Iyengar oversees a research funding partnership with the National Institutes of Health as part of Sound Health, an initiative of the Kennedy Center and National Institutes of Health in association with the NEA. Guided by that initiative, Iyengar’s office supports the Sound Health Network, in partnership with the University of California San Francisco. Iyengar formerly was an editor and reporter covering the biomedical research, medical device, and pharmaceutical industries.