Farnam Jahanian is the 10th president of Carnegie Mellon University, where he holds the Henry L. Hillman President’s Chair. He is currently serving in his second five-year term as president and holds three faculty appointments: in CMU’s School of Computer Science, College of Engineering, and the H. John Heinz III College of Information Systems and Public Policy.

A nationally recognized computer scientist, entrepreneur, public servant and academic leader, Jahanian has advanced a number of key priorities at the university and in higher education more broadly.

He has overseen the expansion of Carnegie Mellon’s research enterprise, which is now widely recognized as a global force in driving innovation, emerging technologies and industry collaboration and draws in more than $600 million in external funding annually. In addition, he has led the most ambitious evolution of campus to date, with the university investing nearly $1 billion by 2027 to enhance its infrastructure in support of its education and research missions, as well as the most successful capital campaign in the university’s history, with nearly $2.5 billion dollars raised so far.

Beyond these achievements, Jahanian has spearheaded efforts to ensure that all deserving, talented and high-achieving students have a pathway to affording and attending CMU for their undergraduate journey. The university continues to expand its suite of access and affordability initiatives, recently adding the Tartan Scholars and CMU Pathway programs for undergraduates as well as the CMU Rales Fellows program for graduate-level STEM students. As a result, Carnegie Mellon has grown its investment in undergraduate financial aid by more than 86% in the last 10 years while continuing to meet 100% of demonstrated financial need for all undergraduate U.S. citizens and permanent residents, regardless of their family income.

A key leader in higher education, Jahanian also drives important conversations and initiatives aimed at helping the field adapt to the future of work in the age of automation and AI while advocating for the role of universities in bolstering the footprint of U.S. innovation. He has testified before Congress on a broad range of topics, including cybersecurity, next generation computing and big data analytics and champions basic research as uniquely central to an innovation ecosystem that drives global competitiveness and strengthens national security.