USA
Sri Lankan-origin Dr. Ray Jayawardhana, an accomplished academic leader and internationally renowned astrophysicist, has been named the next president of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). He will become the tenth president in the Institute’s 105-year history, assuming office on July 1, 2026.
Caltech’s Board of Trustees announced the appointment at a community-wide gathering on the Institute’s Pasadena campus following a months-long international search. Jayawardhana currently serves as Provost of Johns Hopkins University, where he oversees the university’s academic mission across ten schools and a wide portfolio of interdisciplinary programs and research initiatives.
Announcing the decision, David W. Thompson, Chair of Caltech’s Board of Trustees, said Jayawardhana brings together rare strengths as a scientist, administrator, and communicator. He described him as a leader capable of building on Caltech’s legacy of transformational research while expanding its global impact. The Board’s decision was unanimous.
Jayawardhana said he was deeply honored to be selected and to join what he described as a community of trailblazers. He emphasized Caltech’s long-standing commitment to empowering scholars to pursue bold and imaginative research and said his priority would be to remain true to the Institute’s focus on fundamental research while strengthening its ability to share and apply knowledge in service of society.
At Caltech, Jayawardhana said he plans to work closely with faculty and stakeholders to advance innovative ventures across the campus, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and Caltech’s global observatories. His agenda includes enriching the academic experience of students and postdoctoral fellows and expanding the Institute’s engagement with the public at a time of rapid change in higher education, funding, and technology.
Jonas Zmuidzinas, Merle Kingsley Professor of Physics and chair of the presidential search committee, said the Caltech community sought a leader who combined scientific distinction with integrity, strong communication skills, and the ability to steward JPL while inspiring confidence among philanthropic partners. He said Jayawardhana met—and in several ways exceeded—those expectations.
Record of Leadership at Johns Hopkins
As Provost of Johns Hopkins University, Jayawardhana oversees ten schools, interdisciplinary academic centers, and core administrative units. He has played a central role in launching major initiatives, including the Data Science and AI Institute and the School of Government and Policy, while strengthening the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.
His tenure has included significant investments in faculty recruitment, modernization of research infrastructure, expansion of internal research funding, and promotion of interdisciplinary collaboration. He also helped steer the next phase of the Bloomberg Distinguished Professorships program, recruiting new professors and establishing interdisciplinary research clusters.
Jayawardhana has worked with deans and faculty leaders to strengthen tenure and promotion processes, sustain research continuity amid external shifts, and expand financial aid and student support. Under his leadership, Johns Hopkins achieved record-high retention and graduation rates.
He has also emphasized public engagement, launching initiatives such as the Provost’s Fellows for Public Engagement and a university-wide Taskforce on the Arts, while expanding partnerships with philanthropic, research, and cultural organizations.
Johns Hopkins President Ron Daniels credited Jayawardhana with helping the university navigate a changing higher education landscape while strengthening its public-facing mission. He said the university would miss Jayawardhana’s leadership but welcomed his next chapter at Caltech.
Academic Career and Research
Before joining Johns Hopkins, Jayawardhana served as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell University, where he was also the Hans A. Bethe Professor of Astronomy. At Cornell, he led major academic and infrastructure initiatives, introduced new research and fellowship programs, implemented undergraduate curriculum reforms, and set consecutive fundraising records.
Earlier, he spent a decade 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 becoming Dean of Science at York University. He began his academic career with a Miller Research Fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley, and later served on the faculty at the University of Michigan.
Jayawardhana earned a BS in astronomy and physics from Yale University and a PhD in astronomy from Harvard University.
As a scientist, he studies the formation and evolution of planets, stars, and brown dwarfs, using leading ground- and space-based observatories, including the James Webb Space Telescope. He is a core science team member for Webb’s NIRISS instrument and has led major observational programs on exoplanetary atmospheres. He has co-authored 180 peer-reviewed scientific papers, with more than 10,000 citations.
Public Engagement and Honors
Jayawardhana is also a widely respected science communicator. He has written for publications such as The Economist, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, and authored several books, including Strange New Worlds and Neutrino Hunters, the latter of which won the Canadian Science Writers Association’s Book Award. His children’s book, Child of the Universe, aims to inspire curiosity about space.
His honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Radcliffe Fellowship, the Rutherford Medal in Physics, the Nicholson Medal, and the Carl Sagan Medal. Asteroid 4668 Rayjay bears his name.
Born in Sri Lanka, Jayawardhana has often spoken about how childhood experiences stargazing with his father sparked his lifelong fascination with the universe. An avid traveler, he has visited more than 60 countries and all seven continents.
Jayawardhana will succeed Thomas F. Rosenbaum, Caltech’s ninth president, who will conclude his term in June 2026 after 12 years in office and continue on the faculty as a professor of physics.
Looking ahead, Jayawardhana said he is inspired by Caltech’s legacy and looks forward to helping shape the Institute’s next chapter of discovery and innovation.
