On June 21, 2012, the Purdue Board of Trustees announced that Timothy D. Sands will serve as acting president of the university until January 2013 when Gov. Mitch Daniels becomes the 12th President of Purdue.  As acting president, Dr. Sands has been given full authority to lead the university and to continue Purdue's forward momentum. At the conclusion of Dr. Sands service as acting president, he will return to the position he has served in since April 2010, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost of Purdue University.

As executive vice president and provost, Dr. Sands is responsible for all of Purdue's colleges and schools, the regional campuses and related academic activities in coordination with the Office of the President. The provost also oversees libraries, cultural centers, and enrollment management including admissions, registrar and financial aid and various student success programs in addition to the appointment and retention of faculty and academic staff.

Dr. Sands earned a bachelor's degree with highest honors in engineering physics and a master's degree and doctorate in materials science from the University of California, Berkeley. He joined the Purdue faculty in 2002 as the Basil S. Turner Professor of Engineering in the schools of materials engineering and electrical and computer engineering. Prior to becoming provost, he served as the Mary Jo and Robert L. Kirk Director of the Birck Nanotechnology Center in Purdue's Discovery Park. From 1993-2002, Sands was a professor of Materials science and engineering at the University of California-Berkeley and before that, he performed research and directed research groups at Bellcore, a New Jersey-based research company now known as Telcordia.

Dr. Sands has published more than 200 papers and has been granted 15 patents in electronic and optoelectronic materials and devices. His present research efforts are directed toward the development of novel nanocomposite materials for environmentally friendly and cost-effective solid-state lighting, direct conversion of heat to electrical power and thermoelectric refrigeration. He is a fellow of IEEE and the Materials Research Society.