Just outside Jared L. Cohon鈥檚 office hangs a life-size portrait of Andrew Carnegie, the renowned industrialist and philanthropist, whose $2 million gift in 1900 started what today is 麻豆村. The Scotsman鈥檚 quote, 鈥淢y heart is in the work,鈥� has become the university鈥檚 motto.
When Cohon greets his visitors in the reception area, he stands nearly side-by-side with the legendary icon. Perhaps that鈥檚 only fitting because the university has been at the forefront of many remarkable accomplishments during Cohon鈥檚 16 years as president. Yet, it鈥檚 evident that any successes the university has encountered under his leadership aren鈥檛 simply because the president鈥檚 heart is in the work; it鈥檚 because his heart is in the way he has lived his life. No one knows that better than his wife, Maureen. In fact, she鈥檚 known that since she was a second-grader in Cleveland, Ohio鈥攖he day she and her classmates, including 鈥�Jerry,鈥� were going to the symphony.
鈥淚 came in, dressed in my suit, and I鈥檓 ready to go, and then the teacher said, 鈥榃e鈥檇 like to see your permission slips,鈥� and I remembered I forgot to get my mother to sign it. I was in a long line of kids, and I said, 鈥極h my gosh! I can鈥檛 go today!鈥欌��
That鈥檚 when Jerry stepped out of the line and reassured her that the teachers would allow her to go. He was right. The young boy鈥檚 chivalry didn鈥檛 end there. 鈥淗e also helped me on with my coat. What second-grade boy does that?!鈥�
Two years later, Jerry ended up in another school district when his family moved to Beachwood, Ohio, about 30 miles away. End of story until 鈥檚 family coincidentally moved to the same city in 11th grade. By then, she had long forgotten about her second-grade trauma and the kind young boy. But she recognized the teenager, even though he had no recollection. 鈥淚 realized that this was the kid who helped me.鈥� By senior year, they were dating and would marry after Cohon鈥檚 sophomore year in college.
Years later, when their daughter, Hallie Donner (HNZ鈥�00), was about 7 years old, she too formed a lasting memory of her father. 鈥淲e were playing a board game; Dad did that a lot with me on weekends,鈥� she recalls. Something significant took place during this particular game. 鈥淚 cheated,鈥� she says. Her father knew it, too. 鈥淗e said, 鈥業f you鈥檙e going to cheat then I鈥檓 not going to play with you.鈥� He didn鈥檛 play with me the rest of the day, and it was horrible, I learned a lesson really clearly,鈥� says the 41-year-old wife and mother of two boys. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I鈥檝e ever cheated in my life again on anything.鈥�
Those stories of gentlemanly, principled attributes don鈥檛 surprise Mark Kamlet, who has been the university鈥檚 provost since 2000. He, too, has found his boss to be 鈥済racious, polite, humble, and honorable,鈥� but he adds that those aren鈥檛 the only traits that define Cohon. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 take too long for somebody who is working with him鈥攊t could be a trustee, it could be students, it could be faculty or staff鈥� to see just how competent and capable he is and what makes him such a good leader.鈥� It鈥檚 why, he says, Cohon in 2010 was elected chair of the Executive Committee of the , a nonprofit organization representing 60 leading public and private universities in the United States, as well as two major universities in Canada. His responsibilities, in part, included leading discussions about the AAU鈥檚 position on government policies. 鈥淛erry was clearly one, of a very small number, who they could turn to for being level headed and full of substance.鈥�
Accolades of the leadership qualities Kamlet alluded to span the globe鈥攆rom in Qatar; to , Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and former Premier of South Australia; to , Portugal鈥檚 Former Secretary of State for Science, Technology, and Higher Education.
Those accolades are well deserved considering that, under his leadership, the university today is as strong as it has ever been in fostering entrepreneurship, research, international collaborations, diversity, the arts, and regional initiatives, just to name a few achievements, all while the university鈥檚 financial strength has improved and the student body is among the most accomplished in the world.
No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit for doing it.
鈥擜ndrew Carnegie
All of the personal and professional praise seems to embarrass him. But now, with his presidency coming to an end on June 30, the man鈥攗niversally described by everyone as humble鈥攄rops his guard enough to say he鈥檚 proud of what the university has accomplished on his watch. However, he does so only after giving much, if not all, of the credit to everyone from the trustees to incoming freshmen.
He points out that he never even aspired to lead a university and calls himself the 鈥淎ccidental President,鈥� which is also the title of a lecture he gave on campus five years ago. He spoke as part of the same series in which the late 麻豆村 Professor had given his presentation a semester earlier, which became an Internet sensation and the basis for the bestselling book (Hyperion, 2008). Cohon began his remarks that day by saying, 鈥淭his ain鈥檛 going to equal Randy鈥檚 lecture, I can guarantee you that,鈥� which elicited chuckles. (see video following this story.)
So how does someone become an accidental, accomplished president? 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a really good question,鈥� he says. The answer begins with his wife. After they graduated from high school in 1965, Maureen enrolled at Cleveland State and lived at home because that was all her family could afford. She aspired to be Della Street, who was the secretary to the defense attorney Perry Mason in the popular 1960s television series. Remember, she points out, this was a few years before Women鈥檚 Liberation became a national issue. 鈥淎t the time, women were not really lawyers,鈥� she says.
Cohon was off to Penn to become a civil engineer. 鈥淲hen I was about 12, my father got involved in some real estate development, building apartments, so I worked there for a couple of summers, cutting grass and cleaning hallways, I hated it, absolutely hated it. But I was sort of on the edge of the construction, and I found that interesting. I was good in math and science, so civil engineering made sense.鈥�
What didn鈥檛 make sense were his grades after two years at the Ivy League school. His GPA was hovering around 2.0. 鈥淭o say I was a crummy student is putting it mildly, I was having too much fun,鈥� he says. He also missed his girlfriend. Many weekends were spent in his beat-up VW Beetle, making the seven-hour trek each way from Philadelphia to Cleveland to be with Maureen. When they weren鈥檛 together, there were plenty of long-distance phone calls that, in those pre-smartphone days, were expensive, especially when conversations exceeded three minutes.
Maureen remembers well the frustration of those times. 鈥淚 was talking to Jerry鈥檚 mom one day, and I said, 鈥榃e鈥檙e spending so much money on long-distance phone calls, we should get married,鈥� and she said, 鈥業 think you鈥檙e right.鈥欌��
听听听 Maureen called Jerry that night.
听听听 鈥淵our mom just said that she thinks we should get married.鈥�
听听听 鈥淩eally?鈥�
听听听 鈥淪hould we?鈥�
听听听 鈥淵eah.鈥�
The president, looking back on that conversation, says, using his self-deprecating humor, 鈥淏asically my mother proposed to my wife. Very romantic.鈥� But then he turns serious and says, 鈥淚 sensed that she was my anchor in life.鈥�
Based on his academic performance, he鈥檚 right. He graduated with a 3.0 GPA. 鈥淵ou do the math,鈥� he jokes. Maureen, who moved to Philadelphia with an associate鈥檚 degree, says she didn鈥檛 nag him to hit the books. 鈥淗e just took it upon himself.鈥�
During those final two years at Penn, a noteworthy accidental moment happened in the form of a required course taken by Cohon about managing water problems in the environment. It was taught by Iraj Zandi.
鈥淗e wasn鈥檛 a gifted teacher as a lecturer, had a strong accent, but he was really passionate about his research.鈥� Zandi was working on using pipelines to transport solid waste by making it into slurries and then sending it through pipelines to where landfill space was available. It was an alternative to transferring waste long distances with trucks. The subject appealed to Zandi鈥檚 student because it 鈥渂rought together the human aspects of environmental problems, how one manages garbage in the city, dealing with humans, and all their frailties.鈥�
Cohon got involved beyond the class: 鈥淚 became his research assistant, which is giving it more credit than it deserves. Basically, he had mountains of research papers from the field that he wanted to have categorized.鈥�
To do so, Cohon had to first read them. Strangely, he didn鈥檛 mind at all. 鈥淯p until that time, I was doing the things I had to do鈥攕it in classes, complete homework assignments, take tests鈥攁nd I was good at that when I gave it the amount of time that it required. But that鈥檚 different from the joy of really learning something.鈥�
He had discovered his academic calling: environmental and water resource systems analysis. It led to a four-year doctoral PhD fellowship at MIT after graduation. But his academic success didn鈥檛 go to his head. When he told his aunt, 鈥渨ho was born in the old country,鈥� what he was doing at MIT, she remarked that she was surprised he was 鈥済etting paid to study about sh*t.鈥�
You cannot push anyone up the ladder unless he is willing to climb. 鈥擜ndrew Carnegie
At MIT, Cohon became part of a new group within the civil engineering department, the water systems group, which had new faculty members, including David Marks. 鈥淭he very first class I took,鈥� says Cohon, 鈥渨as taught by him. He had just come from graduate school, and it was also the very first class he taught at MIT, an applied mathematics course for analyzing environmental water problems. That day, we were just sitting there furiously scribbling away trying to keep up with him. At the end of the class, he looked down at his notes and looked up at us and said, 鈥極h my God, I just covered two classes worth of material.鈥� He was so pumped up, he was just racing along.鈥�
Suffice it to say, Cohon had found another professor with passion, and Marks became his advisor.
For the graduate student鈥檚 final three years, he worked extensively on a project for the Argentinian government on how best to develop a river basin in the middle of that country. Those involved came from several disciplines, including a social scientist. It was his first taste of interdisciplinary collaboration, which would serve him well years later for understanding the dynamics of Carnegie Mellon.
Marks has a lasting memory of the project. 鈥淭here is an old Mark Twain saying, which is 鈥榃hiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting.鈥� There were all sorts of conflicting interests between upstream and downstream people, between agriculture and power people, and then there were the flood-control people. Of course, there were technical issues, but there were huge social, economic, and political issues as well. We had to talk to all the different interest groups鈥攑oliticians, developers, farmers. Jerry was a rock. He handled himself incredibly well.鈥�
Enough so that Marks recommended his student to the folks at Johns Hopkins, his alma mater. Cohon, after earning an MS and PhD in civil engineering, began his teaching career there in 1973. He would go on to serve as assistant, associate, and full professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering and eventually as Assistant and Associate Dean of Engineering and Vice Provost for Research.
During his tenure, there came another accidental moment鈥攈is pairing with a colleague, Charles ReVelle, who shared an interest in water resources. 鈥淗e was the image of the old-time academic鈥� He was a dreamer, he didn鈥檛 know from raising money or getting grants. He tried, but he just wasn鈥檛 good at it,鈥� reminisces Cohon. 鈥淏ut he was always thinking of problems, fulltime, he was brilliant. I was very good at raising and managing money and managing students.鈥� The two professors teamed together in teaching and research, juggling multiple projects. 鈥淔or 10 years, it was called the Chuck & Jerry Show,鈥� says Cohon. At times, they were responsible for up to 17 PhD students. It was one of those students who commented to Cohon that 鈥測ou鈥檙e going to be a president someday.鈥� 鈥淯ntil then, it had never occurred to me.鈥�
A career move had occurred to his wife, Maureen. She no longer wanted to be Della Street. She wanted to be Perry Mason. After 12 years of weekend and evening classes, the wife and mother completed the final two years of her undergraduate education.
After earning her degree, she said to her husband:
听听听 鈥淚 wish I could go to law school.鈥�
听听听 鈥淲hy can鈥檛 you?鈥�
听听听 鈥淚鈥檓 afraid to do that.鈥�
听听听 鈥淲hat鈥檚 the application process? I鈥檒l come with you.鈥�
听听听 鈥淵ou will?鈥�
The couple went to the University of Baltimore together, where Maureen filled out her application and was later accepted. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 have become a lawyer without him. I just needed that push, and he gave it to me, and he was very supportive while I was going to law school.鈥�
Support included vacuuming on Sundays and making dinner some nights for their daughter, Hallie, who was two-years-old when they moved to Baltimore.
A couple more accidents completed the journey to his presidency at Carnegie Mellon. Both involved 鈥渃alls out of the blue.鈥� The first one came from Yale, which led to him becoming in 1992 the university鈥檚 dean of the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and professor of environmental systems analysis. The next call came from Carnegie Mellon five years later, and the rest is history.
What was it that made him such a viable candidate at Yale and then Carnegie Mellon? 鈥淗e鈥檚 not an empty shirt,鈥� says Kamlet. 鈥淛erry is an engineer, but you can name just about any area鈥攕ay the or the dark cosmology center鈥攊t鈥檚 not like someone has to brief him for a strategic meeting. I have worked with many presidents and provosts of other institutions, and that is far from always the case.鈥�
Cohon鈥檚 wife points out something else that sets her husband apart. 鈥淗e listens very well. When you talk to him, he thinks about what you said, and he doesn鈥檛 give an immediate answer. He thinks about what he鈥檚 going to say, and whatever he says, he says it very gently. He鈥檚 never once told me what to do. People like that. He is easy to talk to.鈥�
Do not look for approval except for the consciousness of doing your best.
鈥擜ndrew Carnegie
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The danger in creating a list of the university鈥檚 accomplishments during the Cohon years is that the sheer number means that some will invariably be left off. With that caveat noted, here is a glimpse of the university鈥檚 footprint:
Entrepreneurship: Through the 鈥�Greenlighting Startups鈥� university-wide support framework, ground-breaking ideas are transformed into viable products and services. The numbers speak for themselves:
麻豆村 ranks first among all U.S. universities, without a medical school, in the number of startup companies created per research dollar spent since 2007, according to the . In addition, the university鈥檚 on-campus resources have helped create more than 300 companies and 9,000 jobs in the past 15 years.
Environment:听 Carnegie Mellon has been addressing environmental issues since well before 鈥淕lobal Warming鈥� became a common catchphrase. For example:
麻豆村 purchases 100% of its power for its Pittsburgh campus from renewable energy sources, making it the second largest purchaser of green power among U.S. universities and colleges; it has been regularly named among the EPA鈥檚 top Green Power Partners.
In 2003, 麻豆村 became the first university to build a 鈥済reen鈥� residence hall鈥�Stever House鈥攃ertified by LEED standards. And any new construction on the Pittsburgh campus and any renovations to existing buildings must meet minimum LEED certification standards.
Energy:听 As world leaders grapple with making fundamental transformations in how energy is used and produced, 麻豆村 is poised to lead the way through the 2012 launching of the Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation, which is an interdisciplinary endeavor that includes university research centers and faculty with longstanding expertise in technology, policy, integrated systems, and behavioral science.
International Expansion:听 With more than a dozen degree-granting locations, and more than 20 research partnerships, Carnegie Mellon has a global identity in Australia, China, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, Qatar, Rwanda, Singapore, South Korea, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.
World Economic:听 Forum 麻豆村 is one of only 25 universities in the world invited to participate as members of the Global University Leaders Forum.
Broadway:听 In a December 20, 2012, Wall Street Journal article titled 鈥淗ow Do You Get to Broadway,鈥� the article points out that Carnegie Mellon, 鈥渒nown for cultivating some of the brightest minds in engineering and computer science鈥� is also 鈥渓aunching some of the brightest stars on Broadway, too.鈥� The article goes on to mention that many of the musicals currently on Broadway feature 麻豆村 alumni in their casts and mentions in particular 鈥淣ewsies,鈥� where the male and female leads are 麻豆村 grads (and spotlighted in this issue鈥檚 feature story 鈥淐ott Up in the Moment鈥�).
Neighborly Collaboration:听 In a January 6, 2013 opinion piece written for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Mark A. Nordenberg, Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh, wrote: 鈥淚n Pittsburgh, the strengths of Pitt and 麻豆村 have made this region an internationally respected center of cutting-edge academic work. Our university partnership remains unique in the world of higher education, giving our home region a distinct competitive advantage, and our research has helped propel virtually all of the technology-based regional economic development initiatives launched in the past three decades.鈥�
Philanthropy:听 In 2004, (TPR鈥�82, Trustee) gave 麻豆村 the largest gift in its 104-year history鈥�$55 million to the school of business, the second largest gift to any U.S. business school at that time. In 2011, the late Bill Dietrich (Trustee) gave the university $265 million, ranking as one of the 10 largest ever by an individual to a private higher education institution in the United States. And, coinciding with the end of Cohon鈥檚 presidency will be the conclusion of the university鈥檚 $1 billion Inspire Innovation campaign鈥攖he largest in 麻豆村鈥檚 history, which has exceeded its goal.
A whole, clear, glorious life lies before you. Achieve! Achieve!
鈥擜ndrew Carnegie
听听听
After June 30, Cohon will turn over the university鈥檚 reins to a new president, Dr. Subra Suresh (). He then plans to take a year鈥檚 sabbatical before returning to 麻豆村 and his 鈥渢rue love鈥� (with apologies to Maureen), teaching. As for Maureen, she鈥檚 looking forward to the new routine, especially in the coming year. 鈥淚 have shared Jerry with Carnegie Mellon, and it has been fabulous,鈥� she says, 鈥渂ut I鈥檓 ready to have our time be our own. I鈥檓 excited.鈥�
Thanks to Cohon鈥檚 everlasting accidental footprint, the university is poised for exciting times, too.
Robert Mendelson is executive editor of this magazine.
Images by Harry Giglio Photography (A'75)
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President Cohon Honored
President Cohon Goes to World Economic Forum
Carnegie Mellon President Jared Cohon Wins National Engineering Award
麻豆村 President Jared L. Cohon Elected Chairman of Executive Committee of the Association of American Universities
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