Farnam Jahanian was formally installed as Carnegie Mellon University’s 10th president on October 26th, 2018. Jahanian, a nationally recognized computer scientist and successful entrepreneur, was unanimously appointed president by Carnegie Mellon’s Board of Trustees in March following a national search. The now president joined Carnegie Mellon in August 2014 as vice president for research. He served as CMU’s provost and chief academic officer from 2015-2017, now succeeding President Subra Suresh, who led the University between 2013 and 2017.
CMU Portugal National Directors and at CMU – Nuno Nunes, Rodrigo Rodrigues and José M.F. Moura – were among the 1,000 students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends that attended the investiture at CMU in late September.
Jahanian spoke about the “people and the ideals that have set CMU apart from the very beginning” from university founders Andrew Carnegie and Richard and Andrew Mellon, to trailblazers Allen Newell, Herbert Simon, Alan Perlis and Raj Reddy.
“At a time when computers were barely understood, we were among the very first to recognize the power of computing, and we made some big bets,” said Jahanian, who noted CMU established its Computer Science Department in 1965, the first Robotics Institute in the U.S. in 1979, the Software Engineering Institute in 1984 and the world’s first School of Computer Science in 1988.
He added that Carnegie Mellon’s story of exceptionalism must continue, “The time to be intentionally bold is once again upon us. We have a singular opportunity to wield our exceptional strengths and make the next big investment in our global leadership.” President Jahanian also pledged to support this effort by investing in a diverse community of faculty and researchers, by “doubling down” on external partnerships and by creating “living laboratories” around the world.
To help support CMU’s momentum and aspirations, Jahanian announced two commitments that will provide critical resources moving forward:
- The Allegheny Foundation has made a $30 million grant toward the transformation of Scaife Hall into a modern, new home for the Mechanical Engineering Department.
- Alumni Tod and Cindy Johnson have committed $50 million to create an endowment to support undergraduate scholarships and student success.
Jahanian finished his speech by asking the university community to work together to write the story of this century and to build an exhilarating future for Carnegie Mellon University. “Each one of us has a role to play in bringing beauty and dignity to our mission, through the impact we make on society, the leaders we develop and the opportunities we create for others,” he said.
The CMU Portugal Program wishes President Farnam an extraordinary presidency and that the collaboration between Carnegie Mellon University and Portugal, which was renewed at the beginning of 2018 through 2030, remains an enduring success.
Read all about Farnam Jahanian investiture ceremony at Carnegie Mellon University in this article.
