Leandra Davis,an established professional in higher education capital and master planning,has been named the new executive director for the Office of Planning,Design,and Construction within Caltech Facilities.She will begin her tenure at the Institute on April 10.Davis joins Caltech after spending more than 15 years at the University of Pennsylvania,where she most recently led the planning,design,and construction group in the School of Engineering,managing ateam of eight project management professionals who oversee interior renovation and new construction projects.In her time at Penn,Davis led master planning and strategic planning initiatives,five-year capital budgeting,and new construction projects as well as advising senior leadership on space allocation and collaborating on sustainability initiatives across the university.Davis will be responsible for the overall leadership,direction,and coordination of the Facilities staff members who provide planning,design,engineering,and construction services to Caltech."We are thrilled to have Leandra join our Facilities team,"said David Kang,associate vice president of facilities."She brings awealth of knowledge and experience in planning and managing complex labs and facilities.That,coupled with Leandra‘s superb background in sustainability and effective communication,will make her atrue asset to the Institute."Davis received three Penn Models of Excellence Awards and is atrustee on the Board of the Corinthian Yacht Club(CYC)of Philadelphia,where she leads the CYC House and Grounds Committee‘s master planning,and founded the CYC‘s Diversity,Equity,and Inclusion Committee.Davis has aBS from Drexel University in interior design,an executive certificate in business essentials from Wharton,is aLEED-accredited professional,and has an MS in organizational dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania."I am energized by the opportunity to collaborate with the Caltech community to build and renovate the Institute‘s cutting-edge research and education facilities,"Davis says."I look forward to supporting Caltech‘s research mission and building trust and transparency with the division staff and faculty.I believe in bringing the brightest minds together to ideate and problem solve,and am thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with the Facilities team as well as with faculty and staff to plan for and build best-in-class research and education facilities." 查看详细>>

Caltech and The Huntington Library,Art Collections,and Botanical Gardens(The Huntington)are launching anew research center that aims to make the most of what each institute is best at:Caltech‘s expertise in science and The Huntington‘s extensive historical archives and status as apremiere research library.The Caltech-Huntington Advanced Research Institute in the History of Science and Technology,as its name implies,will focus on researching the history of science and technology."Despite the fact that the world‘s societies are ever more dependent on scientific knowledge and technological breakthroughs,the fate of the academic discipline of the history of science and technology remains uncertain,"says Jean-Laurent Rosenthal,the Rea A.and Lela G.Axline Professor of Business Economics and Ronald and Maxine Linde Leadership Chair in Caltech‘s Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences(HSS)."Many university history departments across the nation are shrinking as aresult of declining enrollments and are often tempted to cut programs in science and technology.The Caltech-Huntington Advanced Research Institute aims to catalyze renewed enthusiasm for this area of inquiry and revive the critically important conversation between historians,scientists,and engineers that might serve as amodel for the dialog between the humanities and the science,technology,engineering and math(STEM)disciplines."The initial phase of the program,slated to begin in the summer of 2019,is an annual residential institute that will provide doctoral students with the opportunity to conduct research in The Huntington‘s collections and to interact not only with each other but also with acadre of experienced historians of science and technology from Caltech and other institutions.In the second year,the institute will add aresident senior research fellow at The Huntington and asenior visiting faculty member at Caltech to conduct seminars across southern California.In the third year,the program will expand to include apostdoctoral fellow at Caltech as well as additional short-term visiting scholars at The Huntington.In the fourth year,a search will begin for anew faculty member in the history of science and technology at Caltech,who will ultimately oversee the institute on apermanent basis."The Huntington is already an important center for the study of the history of science,"says Steve Hindle,W.M.Keck Foundation Director of Research at The Huntington."This new institute is acollaboration that will strengthen existing activities,add new programs,recruit additional research fellows,and ultimately lead to the appointment of new faculty.I am delighted that it will emphasize support for younger scholars in particular.The creation of the institute represents asignificant step forward for this critical area of intellectual pursuit."Caltech and The Huntington,whose campuses are less than amile apart,have had aclose relationship since Caltech‘s George Ellery Hale encouraged railroad magnate Henry E.Huntington to transform Huntington‘s library,art,and botanical collections into aresearch center nearly acentury ago.In recent years,partnerships between The Huntington and HSS have included the Caltech-Huntington Humanities Collaborations,an ongoing series of interdisciplinary research projects that bring together Caltech faculty members and Huntington residential research fellows;the Eleanor Searle Visiting Professorship in History,awarded to adistinguished historian whose interests lie in the history of science and technology;and arecent grant from the Mellon Foundation for anew collaborative initiative in visual culture.The launch of the new institute has been made possible by agift from Stephen E.Rogers,a member of The Huntington‘s Board of Overseers and president of the Caltech Associates,a support group of the university. 查看详细>>

Kristin Weyman,a student affairs professional with more than adecade of experience in supporting the personal and professional development of undergraduate students,is joining Caltech as an associate dean for undergraduate students.Weyman will assume her new role on July 30,2018.Weyman will be one of two associate deans who work with Dean of Undergraduate Students Kevin Gilmartin in sharing responsibility for the development of Caltech‘s 1,000 undergraduate students.The dean‘s office oversees awide variety of issues related to the well-being and progress of students throughout their educational career,including academic advising and support services,personal and general advising,faculty outreach and communication,student conduct,crisis management,and disability services.Weyman comes to Caltech from Ohio Wesleyan University,a small,private,residential liberal arts college,where she has served as the associate dean for student success for the last year.Prior to that,she was in Southern California,serving as the associate dean for students and dean for first-and second-year students at Claremont McKenna College.Throughout her time in higher education,and in particular in working within student affairs leadership,Weyman has taken on abroad range of increasing responsibilities,from supervising and aligning student support services throughout student affairs,to assisting in the review and development of policies and procedures to enhance the student experience,to overseeing new student orientation programs,to meeting one-on-one with individual students and groups in an advising and mentoring capacity.Weyman says,"I am excited to join the Caltech community and work with its motivated student body and dedicated faculty and staff to further the Institute‘s goals in helping students foster abalanced,healthy lifestyle while engaging in academic and extracurricular pursuits."Weyman‘s appointment is occasioned by the retirement of Barbara Green,after 29 years of supporting Caltech‘s students and families in the dean‘s office.Green,an honorary member of the Caltech Alumni Association and a2013 Thomas W.Schmitt Annual Staff Prize awardee,has been an integral team member in the dean‘s office,overseeing the transition between several faculty deans as well as serving as interim dean and sole representative for the office during two separate academic years and filling the role of disability services coordinator for graduate and undergraduate students."As Ileave my position as associate dean,I am happy to know that someone as thoughtful,experienced,and dedicated as Kristin will be joining the dean‘s office,"Green says."Throughout her career in higher education,Kristin has demonstrated acommitment to supporting individual students—understanding their individual needs and backgrounds,and aligning the support and resources to help them succeed.She will be awelcome addition to Caltech." 查看详细>>

Yanbei Chen,professor of physics at Caltech,has been named a2018 Simons Investigator.These appointments are given annually to"support outstanding scientists in their most productive years,when they are establishing creative new research directions,"according to the Simons Foundation,which grants the awards.Investigators receive$100,000 annually for five years.Chen has made major contributions to understanding the quantum noise of laser interferometer gravitational-wave detectors,including the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory(LIGO),which arises from quantum fluctuations of light and matter.He has also made important contributions to gravitational-wave data-analysis strategies,and uses gravitational-wave observations to test the predictions of general relativity in strong gravity and to study the structures of black holes. 查看详细>>

Caltech has been awarded acontract extension to continue to operate the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.The contract extends for aperiod of up to 10 years,based on performance metrics,the agreement through which Caltech manages JPL on behalf of NASA.The extension begins October 1,2018.Through this contract,Caltech and JPL develop and sustain core competencies in support of NASA-sponsored work in the areas of Earth and planetary sciences,heliophysics,astrophysics,and aeronautics and space activities,which includes the development of spacecraft and instruments,such as the Mars rovers.Caltech has been acommitted partner of NASA in the management of the Lab since it was founded in 1936.Researchers,engineers,and technicians on Caltech‘s campus and at JPL have helped to keep the United States at the vanguard of space exploration and planetary science,and have collaborated on avariety of missions and disciplines to advance understanding of Earth and the universe.With reference to the contract extension,Caltech president Thomas F.Rosenbaum said,"What we accomplish over the next decade,people will remember for centuries.It is agreat honor to partner with NASA on this grand enterprise." 查看详细>>