Caltech names Inspector Clouseau as its new President

Just now (I just got back from the official announcement), Caltech named Jean-Lou Chameau, provost and former Dean of Engineering at Georgia Tech (I was the one person in the audience who applauded loudly when he said he wasn't from South Georgia), as its new president. I see that Caltech is big on Georgia Tech expatriots these days. I asked one of my former colleagues if he knows the guy (I never met him), so I'll let you know if he tells me anything interesting if/when he responds to my e-mail.

Anyway, our new Pres has Peter Sellers' version of a French accent down pat (which probably means mostly that Sellers did a good job, but it was uncanny). I suppose that just has to do with the region of France from whence he came (and the accent Sellers was trying to imitate). The guy is trained as an engineer, and I think that's a good move for Tech. Also, there are a number of similarities between the academic foci of Caltech and Georgia Tech (despite huge differences in the particulars), so somebody from a fellow engineering/science institution rather than some ridiculous place like Harvard (he says with disdain) is probably a good move. I suspect that one of the big reasons that led to his selection is that Georgia Tech is extremely well known for its production of minority (especially African-American) scientists and engineers. However, one needs to keep Georgia demographics in mind in terms of such reputations.

For those keeping track of temporal data, my mood is slightly better this morning, although I still am not in great shape. I have got a couple of the issues with the paper working enough that we can weaken some of our conclusions rather than, say, withdrawing the paper, but we'll see how far I can push the numerics. I'm not sure if I should be bothered more by the situation with the paper or with the missed opportunity. It was a really good opportunity and I asked for a pinch hitter. (I owe it to myself to at least strike out swinging. I shouldn't accept less than that.)