Quick Facts
Biography
Jean-Lou Chameau (born 1953) is a French civil engineer and the current President of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. He was the former president of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). In addition, he previously served as a provost of the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Biography
Early life
Jean-Lou Chameau was born in 1953. He received his secondary, undergraduate, and graduate education in France where he attended the École nationale supérieure des arts et métiers (aka. Arts et Métiers ParisTech). He then obtained his Ph.D in civil engineering from Stanford University.
Career
In 1980, he joined Purdue University, where he became full professor in civil engineering and Head of the geotechnical engineering program. In 1991, he was nominated director of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Georgia Tech.
He became president of Caltech on 1 September 2006, succeeding David Baltimore who served nearly nine years in the post. On February 16, 2013, Chameau was appointed the president of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, succeeding the founding president, Shih Choon Fong.
In 2010, he was awarded membership in the Legion of Honour in the grade of Chevalier.
Personal life
He is married to Carol Carmichael, former director of the Institute for Sustainable Technology and Development, now known as the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems at Georgia Tech.