Princeton University

Klawe named president of Harvey Mudd, Tilghman appoints search committee

Princeton NJ — President Tilghman has appointed a nine-member committee to search for a new dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Maria Klawe

 

Maria Klawe, dean for the past three years, has been selected to become president of Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, Calif., effective July 1.

Klawe came to Princeton in January 2003 as dean of engineering and professor of computer science after 15 years on the faculty and in senior administrative positions at the University of British Columbia. Prior to UBC, she spent eight years with IBM Research in California and two years at the University of Toronto.

“We are very grateful to Maria for her leadership of the School of Engineering, and especially for creating and coordinating a strategic planning process that produced an exciting vision for the future of engineering at Princeton,” Tilghman said. “The plan identifies as its highest priority the training of engineers who will become leaders, and builds on the core strengths of the engineering school while fostering a greater interplay with Princeton’s traditional strengths in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. As we continue to carry out the plan she helped us develop for Princeton, we wish her every success in her new responsibilities at Harvey Mudd.”

The search committee for Klawe’s successor will be chaired by Sharad Malik, the George Van Ness Lothrop Professor in Engineering. Other members will be: Bonnie Bassler, professor of molecular biology; William Bialek, the John Archibald Wheeler/Battelle Professor in Physics; Claire Gmachl, associate professor of electrical engineering; Jeremy Kasdin, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering; Richard Register, professor of chemical engineering; Jennifer Rexford, professor of computer science; James Smith, professor of civil and environmental engineering; and Robert Vanderbei, professor and chair of operations research and financial engineering. Terri Harris Reed, associate provost for institutional equity, will provide staff support to the committee.

Tilghman noted that because “it is important to preserve the school’s positive momentum,” she has asked the search committee “to give special attention to candidates, such as current members of the Princeton faculty, who have a thorough understanding of and commitment to the school’s strategic plan.”

The committee will recommend candidates to Tilghman, who will appoint the new dean, subject to approval of the Board of Trustees. She has asked the committee to aim to have a new dean in place before Klawe leaves in June.