News

Suresh fills open positions

By Brian Trimboli  |  Feb 22, 2015
Steve Kloehn was recently appointed Carnegie Mellon’s vice president for marketing and communication, effective April 7. (credit: Courtesy of Steve Kloehn) Steve Kloehn was recently appointed Carnegie Mellon’s vice president for marketing and communication, effective April 7. (credit: Courtesy of Steve Kloehn) Farnam Jahanian, assistant director for the computer and information science and engineering directorate at the National Science Foundation, will become Carengie Mellon’s vice president of research this summer. (credit: Courtesy of Farnam Jahanian) Farnam Jahanian, assistant director for the computer and information science and engineering directorate at the National Science Foundation, will become Carengie Mellon’s vice president of research this summer. (credit: Courtesy of Farnam Jahanian)

The university recently announced two new faculty appointments: Farnam Jahanian as university provost, effective at the end of the academic year, and Steve Kloehn as vice president for marketing and communications, effective April 7.

Farnam Jahanian began his career at Carnegie Mellon last year as the vice president for research, where he, according to a campus-wide email sent out from university President Subra Suresh, “garnered uncommon praise internally and externally for his vision, work ethic, and passion for what Carnegie Mellon is and what we aspire to be.”

Before he came to Carnegie Mellon, Jahanian worked at the National Science Foundation Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), controlling a $900 million budget and leading research on cyber infrastructure.

Prior to his work at the foundation, Jahanian was the Edward S. Davidson collegiate professor at the University of Michigan, where he served as chair for Computer Science and Engineering from 2007 to 2011, and as director of the Software Systems Laboratory from 1997 to 2000.

Jahanian earned his master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin.

Jahanian is replacing the Dr. Frederick A. Schwertz Distinguished Professor of Life Sciences and Interim Provost Nathan Urban.

“Nathan is a distinguished academic who has had success throughout his tenure at the university, and his taking on this role was a clear indication of his great dedication to this community,” Suresh wrote in his email.

Steve Kloehn comes to Carnegie Mellon from the University of Chicago, where he is associate vice president for news and public affairs. Before that, Kloehn was a writer, columnist, and editor for over 20 years the Chicago Tribune and at various newspapers in New England, Kloehn received his bachelor’s degree in English from Princeton University.

“Steve brings to this role extensive experience in spearheading strategic integrated communications and marketing campaigns that have led to raising national and global visibility,” President Suresh said in a university press release. “His reputation as a hands-on, innovative leader and communicator make him a perfect fit for this new role and CMU.”

The university created Kloehn’s position as part of the Strategic Plan; in an email last semester, Suresh called the search for a vice president for marketing and communications a “critical step toward enhancing our reputation nationally and globally to match our extraordinary achievements.”

“CMU has a long history of innovation that changes lives and enriches the world,” Kloehn said in a university press release.

“As a communicator, I am excited to have the opportunity to tell the CMU story. I look forward to working in partnership with CMU’s scholars, students and alumni around the globe to shine a light on their outstanding and far-reaching work. I am honored, too, to join CMU’s outstanding leadership team and its talented staff.”