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Presidential Search Process

April 14, 2025
General

To: The Caltech Community
From: Dave Thompson, Chair of the Board of Trustees

We write to provide an overview of the process our community will undertake in the search for Caltech's next president and to invite your active participation in this endeavor.

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, Dave Thompson has authorized the formation of two committees to conduct Caltech's presidential search:

  • An 11-member Search Committee will comprise faculty members from all six divisions and representatives from JPL, along with two members of the Caltech Board of Trustees. Four of the committee members are also Caltech alumni, representing the experiences and perspectives of the undergraduate and graduate programs. The goal of this committee is to broadly engage the Caltech community and solicit input on the Institute's next leader. This committee will then seek, review, and recommend to the Selection Committee several eminently qualified candidates for the position of president. The Search Committee will work closely with the Selection Committee throughout the search process.
  • The 10-member Selection Committee will comprise members of the Caltech Board of Trustees and two faculty members. Six of the Selection Committee members are also Caltech alumni. The Selection Committee will interview candidates put forward by the Search Committee and, from that list, nominate a candidate for election by the full Board of Trustees.


Members of these committees are as follows:

Search Committee

  • Jonas Zmuidzinas (BS '81), Merle Kingsley Professor of Physics (committee chair)
  • Frances Arnold, Linus Pauling Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering and Biochemistry and Director of the Donna and Benjamin M. Rosen Bioengineering Center
  • Barbara Barrett, Vice Chair of the Caltech Board of Trustees and Chair of the JPL Committee
  • Azita Emami, Andrew and Peggy Cherng Professor of Electrical Engineering and Medical Engineering and Director of the Center for Sensing to Intelligence
  • Woodward Fischer, Professor of Geobiology
  • Taylor Lawrence (BS '86), Caltech Board of Trustees Member and Chair of the Executive Compensation Committee
  • Dimitri Mawet, David Morrisroe Professor of Astronomy and Jet Propulsion Laboratory Senior Research Scientist
  • Dianne Newman, Gordon M. Binder/Amgen Professor of Biology and Geobiology and Merkin Institute Professor
  • Jean-Laurent Rosenthal (PhD '88), Rea A. and Lela G. Axline Professor of Business Economics and Director of the Ronald and Maxine Linde Institute of Economic and Management Sciences
  • Chris Umans, Professor of Computer Science, William M. Coughran Jr. Leadership Chair of the Department of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, and Executive Officer for Computing and Mathematical Sciences
  • Barbara Wold (PhD '78), Bren Professor of Molecular Biology and Merkin Institute Professor

Selection Committee

  • David Thompson (MS '78), Chair of Caltech Board of Trustees (committee chair)
  • Frances Arnold, Linus Pauling Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering and Biochemistry and Director of the Donna and Benjamin M. Rosen Bioengineering Center
  • Sean Bailey, Caltech Board of Trustees Member and Chair of the Student Experience Committee
  • Barbara Barrett, Vice Chair of the Caltech Board of Trustees and Chair of the JPL Committee
  • Rebecka Belldegrun, Caltech Board of Trustees Member and Chair of the Governance and Nominating Committee
  • France Córdova (PhD '79), Caltech Board of Trustees Member and past Chair of the Student Experience Committee
  • Taylor Lawrence (BS '86), Caltech Board of Trustees Member and Chair of the Executive Compensation Committee
  • Prineha Narang (MS '15), Caltech Board of Trustees Member and Young Alumni Trustee
  • Pedro Pizarro (PhD '94), Caltech Board of Trustees Member and Chair of the Finance, Facilities, and Infrastructure Committee
  • Jonas Zmuidzinas (BS '81), Merle Kingsley Professor of Physics

Both committees will be staffed by Cathy Light, Secretary of the Board of Trustees.

Thanks to President Rosenbaum's outstanding efforts over the past 11 years, Caltech is in a strong position to attract an extraordinary leader. Your participation will assist us in identifying the qualities, expertise, and experience that will enable Caltech's next president to most ably lead the Institute in the years ahead.

Accordingly, in the coming weeks, the Search Committee will be seeking input from the entire Caltech community—including faculty, staff, students, and postdocs on campus, at JPL, and at the Institute's off-site locations, along with alumni, Caltech Associates, and board members—through an online survey and open forums. To facilitate this process, the committee will host open forums both on campus and at JPL. The committee also will hold meetings with the faculty in each of the academic divisions to explain the search process and timetable in detail and to solicit candidate suggestions. A website containing announcements, opportunities for engagement, an online survey, and other information related to the presidential search is also now available online at www.presidentialsearch.caltech.edu.

The two committees will operate as transparently as possible during the information-gathering phase of the search, but the committees' deliberations—including nominations, candidates under consideration, meetings, and interviews—will be highly confidential.

While the Board of Trustees holds the sole responsibility for the appointment of Caltech's president, the search process at the Institute has traditionally included a high level of faculty involvement. The Search Committee is committed to seeking extensive input from the Caltech community to help them in this endeavor.

We both look forward to—and, indeed, rely upon—your active participation in this important search. With the benefit of your efforts, we are confident that the Board of Trustees will elect an exceptional leader for this great institution, one who will build on the excellent work of President Rosenbaum and his distinguished predecessors.