Jared L. Cohon, dean of the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies F&ES since 1992, has been named president of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He succeeds Dr. Robert Mehrabian, who will retire on July 1 after seven years as Carnegie Mellon president.
President Richard C. Levin said: "This recognition of Dean Cohon's talent as a leader should surprise no one in the Yale community. He has served the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies with distinction these past five years. We will miss him greatly, but we take pride in knowing that one of America's outstanding research universities will have the benefit of his steady hand in the years to come."
Dean Cohon's career includes professional and management experience in education, industry and government. In more than 25 years at private research universities, he has held faculty and administrative positions at all levels and has been involved in a broad range of issues and activities.
In addition to serving as F&ES dean, he is professor of environmental systems analysis and mechanical engineering. Prior to 1992, he was on the faculty of The Johns Hopkins University for 19 years; there he rose through the faculty ranks to become associate dean of engineering and then vice provost for research.
President Clinton recently appointed Dean Cohon to chair the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board. Created by Congress under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act Amendments of 1987, the board is responsible for evaluating the U.S. Department of Energy's program for the disposal, storage and shipment of high-level nuclear waste.