Kavita Bala will take the helm as Cornell’s 17th provost, with a five-year appointment starting Jan. 1, 2025. Bala currently serves as the dean of the Bowers College of Computing and Information Science.
Interim President Michael Kotlikoff announced the appointment in a Wednesday morning email, thanking John Siliciano ’75 for his leadership as interim provost.
Bala’s career at Cornell began in 1999 as a postdoctoral researcher. In 2002, she stepped into the role of assistant professor of computer science, and in 2018, she became the chair of the Department of Computer Science.
Bala, an expert in computer graphics, helped secure the over $100 million gift from Ann S. Bowers ’59 to establish Bowers CIS in 2020, becoming the inaugural dean of the college. Under Bala, Bowers CIS has seen rapid expansion, with 2,400 undergraduate majors and three-quarters of students taking at least one class under the college. To meet this demand, Bala increased faculty by 30 percent and secured funds for a 135,000 square-foot building, set to open in 2025, according to a University press release.
“As provost, I hope to foster an environment where all Cornellians can realize their intellectual potential, do their best work and have a positive impact on the world,” Bala said in a University press release.