Top researcher is new KAUST president

The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) yesterday announced the appointment of a high-ranking academic as its next president.
The 59-year-old French native, Jean-Lou Chameau, who has served since 2006 as the president of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, will become the second president of the prestigious Saudi university later this year.
“We could not have found a better president for KAUST,” said Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi, who serves as the chairman of the university’s board of trustees. “Chameau’s track-record as a researcher, educator and distinguished academic leader makes him uniquely qualified to lead the next phase of KAUST’s development.”
Al-Naimi thanked the board of trustees and, particularly, the search committee, for what he described as “10 months of hard, careful, and fruitful efforts to find and recruit the perfect leader for KAUST.”
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah founded KAUST in 2007 with a $ 10 billion endowment. The international graduate research university, located at Thuwal, about 80 km north of Jeddah, enrolled its first students in 2009. The third class of MS students graduated, along with the first 10 PhD graduates of KAUST, three months ago.
The incoming president expressed delight at the life-changing opportunity. “Until recently, I believed I would complete my career at Caltech and retire in Pasadena,” said Chameau. “I did not expect to be presented with a unique and life-changing opportunity to lead KAUST.”
He said he first heard about KAUST not too long after it was founded in 2007. “I was impressed with the clarity of the vision to establish a 21st century university that serves as a beacon for learning and research,” he said.
“As I considered accepting the position at KAUST and spoke with members of the board and the academic leadership, I was impressed by the dedication of effort and resources to realize the university’s vision and the attention paid to establishing a culture of excellence,” he said.
Chameau said because of the university’s unique location and its charter as a new international center of learning and research, KAUST is positioned to have a dramatic impact on the Kingdom and the world. “For that reason, it is more than a university; it is an undertaking of historic importance. I will dedicate my energy to lead it toward achieving its bold vision,” he said.
Under Chameau’s leadership, Caltech, which is also home to the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, beat Harvard in 2011 for the ranking of best research university in the world by the Britain-based Times Higher Education World University Rankings, a position it held again last year.
The incumbent president, Singapore’s Shih Choon Fong, endorsed the executive committee’s decision and described Chameau as an old friend.
“Having worked with Jean-Lou in the past, I have observed his broad understanding and deep insights in research and education,” he said. “He has a genuine affection for his faculty and students, and our KAUST community is thrilled at the prospect of his acceptance to take up the baton to lead KAUST in its journey to build a research university with global reach and impact.”
Chameau received his undergraduate education at the Ecole Nationale Superieure d’Arts et Metiers in France and later received his PhD in civil engineering at Stanford University. He has had a remarkable career in a number of US institutions. Prior to joining Caltech, he had an exemplary record as the dean of engineering and then provost at Georgia Tech.
He was appointed president of Caltech in September 2006. He is credited with promoting a multidisciplinary approach to research and education at Caltech and encouraging the development of programs in areas of societal impact, including energy, medical science and the environment.
Chameau placed great emphasis on improving students’ educational experiences as well as advancing entrepreneurial and international opportunities for faculty and students.
Andrew Gould, the chairman of BG Group and former CEO of Schlumberger, led the search committee of the board. “Chameau quickly emerged as the ideal leader for KAUST and I am tremendously pleased that he has accepted the position,” he said.
Other board members echoed his sentiments. Charles Vest, the president of the US National Academy of Engineering, former president of MIT and a member of the KAUST board of trustees, said: “Chameau is one of the world’s most respected academic leaders.