Ray Jayawardhana

Dr. Ray JayawardhanaRay Jayawardhana, an accomplished academic leader and renowned astrophysicist who currently serves as provost of Johns Hopkins University, has been named Caltech's next president, the tenth in the Institute's 105-year history.

Prior to joining Johns Hopkins, Jayawardhana served as the Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell University, as well as the Hans A. Bethe Professor and professor of astronomy.

Jayawardhana previously spent a decade on the faculty at the University of Toronto, where he held a Canada Research Chair and served as senior advisor on science engagement to the university's president, before serving as the Dean of Science at York University. He began his career with a Miller Research Fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley, and held an assistant professorship at the University of Michigan.

He received a BS degree in astronomy and physics from Yale University and a PhD in astronomy from Harvard.