Caltech names astrophysicist Ray Jayawardhana as its next president

The California Institute of Technology has named Ray Jayawardhana, an astrophysicist and the provost of Johns Hopkins University, as its next president. Dr. Jayawardhana, 54, is scheduled to start in July and will succeed Thomas F. Rosenbaum, who led the school for 12 years. Caltech leaders cited Dr.

Jayawardhana’s record as a communicator as a key factor in the choice, saying the appointment comes at a time when American science is under threat and public confidence in higher education has fallen. The Trump administration has argued that universities have become beholden to “woke” politics and has sought to tighten federal grant rules, the article said.

“A president who’s able to communicate is going to be important,” said Jonas Zmuidzinas, chair of the search committee, “and that’s one of the reasons why Ray stood out.” As provost at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Jayawardhana is the university’s top academic officer. He is a prolific author of scientific papers, has written several science books including a children’s book, has made frequent media appearances, and started a fellowship program at Johns Hopkins to help professors communicate their science.

“I’ve felt strongly for a long time about the need, the imperative, frankly, for research institutions, for researchers, to engage with the broadest possible set of audiences,” he said. “And communication really does need to be not unidirectional.

Key Topics

Science, Ray Jayawardhana, Caltech, Johns Hopkins, Thomas F. Rosenbaum, Jet Propulsion Laboratory