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 periodic research events and webinars, and established research and data partnerships with the U.S Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. His office also leads strategic planning, program evaluations, and performance measurement for the agency. Iyengar and his team have created and pursued a long-term research agenda (based partly on an arts “system map” his office helped to design), founded a national data repository for the arts, and launched two awards 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. His office provides research support to Creative Forces: NEA Military Arts Healing Network. Iyengar also leads a research funding partnership with the National Institutes of Health as part of Sound Health, an initiative of the Kennedy Center and NIH in association with the Arts Endowment. Guided by that initiative, Iyengar’s office supports the Sound Health Network, in partnership with the University of California San Francisco. Prior to joining the agency, Iyengar worked as a reporter, managing editor, and senior editor for a host of news publications covering the biomedical research, medical device, and pharmaceutical industries.