Professor Jean-Lou Chameau

Dr. Jean-Lou Chameau, former KAUST president, has been named the University’s 2017 Commencement speaker. Chameau is president emeritus of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), an institution he led from 2006 to 2013. After completing a Ph.D. in civil engineering at Stanford University, Chameau had a distinguished career as a professor and administrator at Purdue University. Between 2001 and 2006, Chameau served as the provost and vice president for academic affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Prior to that, he served as the dean of the College of Engineering and held the position of Georgia Research Alliance eminent scholar.

Chameau has received numerous awards for his research and contributions as an educator and academic leader. In his native France, he was elected Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur. He is a member of both the French Académie des Technologies and the U.S. National Academy of Engineering. He also has been active on industry and public boards, including those of InterWest, Internet2, John Wiley & Sons, MTS Systems, Maaden, Safran, Ecole Polytechnique, the U.S. Council on Competitiveness and the Academic Research Council of Singapore.​