Jared L. Cohon, Chair

Photo of Jared Cohon

President Emeritus and Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University

Jared Cohon became president of Carnegie Mellon University in 1997. He came to Carnegie Mellon from Yale University, where he was dean of the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and professor of environmental systems analysis. He joined Yale in 1992 after 19 years at Johns Hopkins University, where he rose through the faculty ranks to become associate dean of engineering and vice provost for research. Dr. Cohon's research and teaching have focused on the development of systems analysis techniques and their application to the management of environmental problems. He has been especially interested in multiple-criteria decision making methods and their application to river basin planning, water quality management, the siting of energy facilities, and nuclear waste management. Dr. Cohon earned his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1969 and his master's and doctoral degrees in civil engineering in 1972 and 1973, respectively, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the author of a book and more than 80 technical publications. Dr. Cohon was appointed to the national Homeland Security Advisory Council by President George W. Bush and has advised many government agencies on risk assessment and management. He has received numerous awards in the field of environmental engineering.