It鈥檚 not every day Carnegie Mellon gets a new president. Since 1997, Jared Cohon had occupied the sixth floor office in Warner Hall on the Pittsburgh campus; before him, only seven others have held the top position going back to the university鈥檚 1900 founding. That makes the average tenure for a 麻豆村 president about 14 years. If Dr. Cohon鈥檚 successor, Subra Suresh, maintains that average, he won鈥檛 step down until 2027 (which makes me feel old just thinking about it).
Naturally, when a February 5 麻豆村 news release first revealed that Dr. Suresh would be the university鈥檚 ninth president, effective July 1, I submitted an interview request so I could profile him for Carnegie Mellon Today. I knew securing a time wouldn鈥檛 be easy because he was still Director of the National Science Foundation in Washington, DC.聽
After some discussions with the president鈥檚 office, I was in luck. Dr. Suresh could meet on June 7 at his Georgetown home, about 250 miles from Pittsburgh. I gladly made the drive and arrived on time for my 1 pm interview.聽聽
The front door was slightly ajar when I stepped onto the porch. I heard a voice say, 鈥淧lease come in.鈥� When I did, I saw Dr. Suresh sitting at his dining room table with two familiar faces, Cathy Light and Cheryl Hays from the president鈥檚 office. Cathy apologetically told me this day was the only opportunity to complete some paperwork.聽
鈥淯h-oh,鈥� I thought. Was I going to have a chance to have a one-on-one conversation with Dr. Suresh? Before panic set in, Dr. Suresh walked over to me, shook my hand, and said, 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to go talk in the living room.鈥� That was fine with Cathy and Cheryl because they had a pile of documents to keep them busy.聽
Dr. Suresh and I had an entertaining, candid two-hour conversation, interrupted only when he asked me, 鈥淗ave you had lunch?鈥� We joined Cathy, Cheryl, and Dr. Suresh鈥檚 wife, Mary, at the dining room table and ate before concluding the interview.聽
Afterward, I had a charming one-hour conversation with Mary Suresh. Then it was time to go. Cathy and Cheryl were still working hard at the dining room table, but Dr. Suresh had gone upstairs, so I said to Ms. Suresh:聽
鈥淧lease thank your husband for taking the time to talk with me.鈥�
鈥淲ait,鈥� she replied. 鈥淚鈥檓 sure Subra will want to say goodbye.鈥�
I told her that wasn鈥檛 necessary, but she insisted. In another moment, he came bounding down the stairs and told me how appreciative he was that I made the trip. Then, he asked: 鈥淒o you need directions?鈥澛�
鈥淣o thanks,鈥� I told him. 鈥淚 know where I鈥檓 going.鈥�
After another handshake, I walked to my car, impressed with the warmth and hospitality of a man with so many achievements. As I reflected on the interview during the drive home鈥攚ithout making any wrong turns鈥攊t occurred to me that Carnegie Mellon is headed in the right direction, too.
I hope you enjoy this issue鈥檚 profile of Dr. Suresh.
鈥�Robert Mendelson
聽 聽 Executive Editor聽
聽 聽 Follow on Twitter @RobertMendelson
ps: Save the Dates! Nov. 14, 15: The Inauguration of President Subra Suresh
www.cmu.edu/suresh-inauguration
