On May 26, the identity of the new president was finally revealed, and Jean-Lou Chameau was introduced to everyone on campus. At 8:00 a.m. he met the Board of Trustees, at 10:00 a.m. he met the faculty, and at 11:00 a.m. he spoke to the rest of the Caltech community in a packed Beckman Auditorium (and received a standing ovation). He was finally able to relax at an evening barbecue outside Chandler, where he took the opportunity to talk to many of the undergrads (above).
Jean-Lou Chameau Named New President
Jean-Lou
Chameau, the provost and vice president for academic affairs at Georgia
Tech, has been named Caltech’s new president. He succeeds David
Baltimore, who is stepping down from the presidency after nearly nine
years in the post. Chameau will take office on or before September 1.
Chameau,
53, served as dean of the Georgia Tech College of Engineering for four
years before becoming provost and vice president in 2001. As provost,
he is responsible for the academic and research programs of the university,
including the Georgia Tech Research Institute, and for overseeing the
university’s education, economic development, and commercialization
programs.
Chameau,
who is also the Hightower Professor and a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent
Scholar, was selected by Caltech’s Board of Trustees after a nationwide
search conducted by a faculty search committee. “Jean-Lou Chameau
impressed us with his intelligence, his vision, his personality, and his
extensive administrative and fund-raising experience,” said David
Stevenson, Van Osdol Professor of Planetary Science and head of the search
committee. “We believe that he is well suited to the challenges
and opportunities of the Caltech presidency in a time of change in the
global environment of science, technology, and education. We expect him
to be an engaging and energizing presence in our community of faculty,
students, and staff, including JPL.”
“Dr.
Chameau brings a wealth of managerial experience and a strong commitment
to students, faculty, and research,” said Kent Kresa, chairman of
the Board of Trustees. “He has done a terrific job at Georgia Tech,
and I’m positive he will lead Caltech with the same energy, excitement,
and wisdom he displayed there.”
“As
a person who loves science and technology, I cannot imagine a better and
more exciting opportunity than to serve Caltech at this point of my career,”
said Chameau. “Caltech’s commitment to and history of excellence
are unequaled. It is a privilege to be asked to lead this institution.
It is also very humbling. I look forward to working with such an exceptional
group of faculty, staff, students, and trustees.”
Throughout
his 15-year career at Georgia Tech, Chameau worked to make the university
a worldwide model for interdisciplinary education and research, innovation,
and entrepreneurship, and for the promotion of these activities as a catalyst
for economic development.
He played
a key role in Georgia Tech’s initiative to educate students to understand
their role in creating a more prosperous and sustainable society, and
led the efforts that established the Institute for Sustainable Technology
and Development. He has also fostered the creation of major complexes
for bio-environmental materials and nanotechnology, facilities that reflect
his vision for “research neighborhoods” in which faculty members
from several disciplines are physically located together (something that
Caltech also does).
Chameau has
enhanced Georgia Tech’s international reputation through innovative
educational and research programs. There is now a Georgia Tech Lorraine
in Metz, France, and a Georgia Tech Singapore, and many research partnerships
throughout the world. Nearly one-third of Georgia Tech’s students
study abroad.
He has placed
a strong emphasis on increasing diversity, and has championed programs
that contribute to the education of minority students in engineering.
His commitment to the recruitment, retention, and promotion of women on
the faculty earned him the 2004 Rodney D. Chipp Memorial Award from the
Society of Women Engineers.
“Jean-Lou
Chameau comes to Caltech with a reputation for deep interest in and effective
attention to faculty and student issues,” said Henry Lester, chair
of the faculty and Bren Professor of Biology. “His vision and energy
have led to productive ties with international institutions and with industry.
Speaking as a biologist who participates in Caltech’s programs in
Computation and Neural Systems, in Bioengineering, and in Biochemistry
and Molecular Biophysics, I’m delighted by Dr. Chameau’s long-standing
interdisciplinary interests.”
As provost,
Chameau led efforts to secure major donations for the university’s
endowment, and has also been active in state and federal relations and
in professional organizations such as the U.S. Council on Competitiveness
and the Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable.
A native
of Normandy, Chameau received his undergraduate education in France, and
his graduate education in civil engineering from Stanford University.
In 1980 he joined the civil engineering faculty at Purdue University,
where he subsequently became full professor and head of the geotechnical
engineering program. He moved to Georgia Tech in 1991 as director of the
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Between 1994 and 1995,
he was president of Golder Associates, Inc., an international geotechnical
consulting company. He currently serves on the boards of directors for
MTS Systems Corporation, Prime Engineering, and l’École Polytechnique.
He is also a trustee and the treasurer of the Georgia Tech Research Corporation,
and the president of Georgia Tech Lorraine.
Chameau’s
technical interests include sustainable technology; environmental geotechnology;
soil dynamics; earthquake engineering; and liquefaction of soils. He is
the recipient of an NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award and the
ASCE A. Casagrande Award.
He is married to Dr. Carol Carmichael, the director of the Institute for Sustainable Technology and Development. A native of Wisconsin, she has been at Georgia Tech for almost 20 years. —JP
