December 3, 2014
Dear Members of the Carnegie Mellon Community:
I am pleased to announce that Dr. K. Jimmy Hsia has accepted the position of Vice Provost for International Programs and Strategy, effective January 1, 2015. He will also be joining the College of Engineering as Professor of Biomedical and Mechanical Engineering.
Dr. Hsia received his B.S. degree from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, and his PhD from MIT. He is currently the W. Grafton and Lillian B. Wilkins Professor of Mechanical Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and a Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
At UIUC, Dr. Hsia has expanded international education and research opportunities for faculty and students in many countries across Asia; most recently, he has served as Chair of the UIUC-Zhejiang University Joint Institute Working Group where he helped to foster relationships with potential international partners. He has also made productive connections for students and faculty across universities and companies in China. In addition, Dr. Hsia served as founding Director of the Nano and Bio Mechanics Program at NSF (2005-2007), Associate Dean of the Graduate College at UIUC (2009-2010), and Associate Vice Chancellor for Research for New Initiatives at UIUC (2011-13) where he worked with each college to promote interdisciplinary projects.
Dr. Hsia’s purview at Carnegie Mellon will include the university’s growing international programs and locations worldwide. He will work closely with university, college, and school leadership to ensure the continuing quality and high standards of our existing educational offerings. He will also engage in CMU’s efforts to identify and evaluate educational and research opportunities for new partnerships around the world.
Carnegie Mellon's diverse and maturing portfolio of international programs is an important part of our educational mission. I believe that Dr. Hsia’s stature and experience will allow him to serve CMU very well in this leadership role. We are delighted to welcome him to Carnegie Mellon.
Sincerely,
Nathan Urban
Interim Provost