"What Could We Not Do?": The Inauguration of Ray Jayawardhana as Caltech's 10th President

On a November evening more than a century ago, George Ellery Hale, one of Caltech's three founders, and his guests gathered atop Mount Wilson to witness the first light of the 100-inch Hooker Telescope, the world's most powerful at the time.

Ray Jayawardhana, who took office in July, began his inaugural address on Thursday, October 29, recounting that moment after he was formally installed as Caltech's 10th president. "First light," he explained, "is the poetic term astronomers use for the moment a new telescope first opens its eyes to the cosmos. It marks both the culmination of years of ingenuity and effort, and the anticipation and promise of new discovery."

"An inauguration, too, brings the past and future into a shared field of view," Jayawardhana said. "We draw illumination from those who came before us as we envision what we might yet discover."

The inauguration theme of First Light ran throughout the ceremony on Beckman Mall, where faculty, staff, students, alumni, trustees, and distinguished guests gathered to celebrate a new chapter in the Institute's history.

From Mount Wilson, Jayawardhana turned to another night beneath the stars that profoundly shaped his own life.

He recalled a childhood evening in Sri Lanka, when his late father, Somapala Jayawardhana, pointed to the Moon and told him that people had walked there. Suddenly, the Moon was a world within reach, a place people could explore, dramatically expanding his sense of what was possible.

"If people could do that, what could we not do?" he remembered wondering.

That question, he said, has stayed with him throughout his life.

Jayawardhana credited his late father, who overcame considerable obstacles to pursue his own education, with instilling in him a boundless curiosity and expansive sense of possibility. He also paid tribute to his mother, Sirima Jayawardhana, who was in the audience, for modeling the resilience and inner strength that gave him the confidence to pursue his own ambitions. Addressing her in Sinhala, he offered a heartfelt message of thanks for helping him realize his dreams.

Jayawardhana traced Caltech's distinctive character to Hale's audacious vision of transforming a small polytechnic school into a preeminent institute of technology devoted to fundamental research. That spirit of reinvention, he said, has sustained Caltech through more than a century, pushing the boundaries of human knowledge.

Yet the Institute's greatest contributions, he argued, still lie ahead, outlining three aspirations for Caltech's future grounded in values that have long distinguished the Institute.

He called for bolstering the environment where the most ambitious ideas in science and engineering have the freedom and resources to thrive. Citing the 43 years between the conception of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) and its first detection of gravitational waves, he emphasized the intellectual risk-taking, sustained investment, and the long-term view needed to pursue bold scientific questions whose answers may take decades to emerge.

He also urged a fierce commitment to the flourishing of Caltech's people, especially its students. Drawing on the Institute's long-standing educational philosophy, which embraces the humanities alongside scientific and technical mastery, he underscored the importance of developing thoughtful scientific leaders with imagination, judgment, and breadth of perspective. He emphasized, too, the richness of Caltech's communal life, where intellectual exchange, personal relationships, and shared experiences fuel the Institute's scientific vitality and account for the special magic of Caltech.

Finally, Jayawardhana encouraged the Caltech community to share the benefits and wonder of scientific discovery more widely. In addition to delivering practical dividends of research to society, he said, Caltech also has a responsibility to invite everyone to share in the excitement of discovery, thus enriching intellectual and cultural life. Recalling Richard Feynman's reflections on the beauty of a flower, he echoed the Nobel laureate's conviction that scientific understanding deepens our appreciation of the natural world.

"The promise of first light is not just to see further for ourselves but to illuminate the way for everyone," Jayawardhana said.

A Community's Warm Welcome

The Inauguration ceremony also featured remarks from invited speakers Jacqueline K. Barton, Caltech's John G. Kirkwood and Arthur A. Noyes Professor of Chemistry, Emerita, and Peter B. Dervan, Caltech's Bren Professor of Chemistry, Emeritus. Together, the married couple has spent eight decades at Caltech, where their discoveries at the interface of chemistry and biology have earned them a place among the world's most lauded scientists. Barton discovered that DNA can act like a wire, carrying electrons that cells use to find and repair genetic damage. Dervan pioneered synthetic molecules that can be programmed to read specific DNA sequences, opening new paths to regulating genes.

Opening their shared remarks, Dervan recalled his early career, when he wanted to introduce biological experiments into his work as an organic chemist––a potentially "career-ending move" given the cultural chasm between chemistry and biology at the time. Yet, he found support in his Caltech colleagues and a culture that embraces big, new ideas, which explains how a small institution in Pasadena has had a profound impact on the world.

"From the Caltech-JPL innovation ecosystem, fundamental breakthroughs helped drive NMR [nuclear magnetic resonance], semiconductor electronics, the biotech revolution, satellite global positioning, personal computers, the internet, the iPhone, and mRNA vaccines. This was a return on taxpayer's investment––we the people––underpinning decades of American prosperity, security, and global leadership."

That openness that led to such breakthroughs, Barton said, is rooted in curiosity and commitment, which drive Caltech's students, postdocs, and faculty to uncover something new about the world.

"That is what is special about this place—about Caltech. In fact, over lunch with Ray, Peter and I recognized that same spirit in him," Barton said. "Ray brings to Caltech an eagerness to learn from others and a readiness to act on bold ideas and take risks that open the way to discovery."

Representatives from all corners of the Caltech community also brought words of welcome and support for Jayawardhana.

Shouleh Nikzad, chief technologist at the Jet Propulsion Lab, which Caltech manages for NASA, framed his arrival as coming at a pivotal moment for the deeply linked institutions.

"As we plan to accelerate the next set of space exploration through our unique blend of science and technology, I know that we have the leadership to make that acceleration possible," Nikzad said. "I speak for the entire JPL community: We could not be more inspired to have Ray's leadership in this extraordinary moment in history for space and science."

JPL officially welcomed Jayawardhana the day before, with a breakfast event at the Lab, where he formally addressed the JPL community ahead of his inauguration and JPL's 90th anniversary, both moments that honor history and look ahead.

Zachary Chase, graduate student and chair emeritus of the Graduate Student Council, said he learned about Jayawardhana by reading the acknowledgments in Jayawardhana's students' theses and then in Jayawardhana's own. Jayawardhana thanked his thesis advisor in his acknowledgements for "daring" to take on a student who "knew precious little," a sentiment that deeply resonated with Chase. Chase also recalled meeting Jayawardhana on the day his appointment was announced in January, when he asked Chase about graduate student life.

"I was so nervous that I don't remember what I said," Chase said. "But I remember that he asked, and that he listened."

One particular welcome came from a surprising place: low-earth orbit. Astronaut, geologist, and former Caltech postdoc Jessica Watkins sent a welcome video message to Jayawardhana from the International Space Station.

"President RayJay, you've spent your career exploring other worlds and asking questions about our place in the universe. You understand that discovery begins with wonder and is sustained by the conviction that answers are within reach," Watkins said. "On behalf of Caltech postdocs, past and present, welcome. We can't wait to see you bring that spirit of curiosity, discovery, and exploration to the next generation of Techers."

The Investiture

The centerpiece of the ceremony was the investiture, in which the academic hood originally worn by Robert Millikan—one of Caltech's founders and chairman of its Executive Council from 1921–1945—was passed down a line of former Caltech presidents, including Jean-Lou Chameau and Thomas F. Rosenbaum, until it reached Kent Kresa, vice chair of the Caltech Board of Trustees, who placed it on Jayawardhana's shoulders. The hood has come to symbolize the authority and responsibility entrusted to each of those who lead Caltech, said Ambassador Barbara Barrett, the chair of the Board of Trustees, who delivered the words of investiture. Kresa then delivered his own welcome, in which he described what Jayawardhana brings to his new role.

"His curiosity has taken him from observatories on high mountains to the sweltering depths of a South African mine, and from the dusty plains of western Mongolia to the remote ice fields of Antarctica," Kresa said. "That same ruthless curiosity informs his approach to academic leadership. Ray understands what it means to pursue a difficult question whose answer may be years or even decades away, and the importance of giving exceptional people the resources and freedom to follow bold ideas."

Campus Celebration

After the ceremony, Caltech staff, faculty, postdocs, and students made their way from Beckman Mall to a lively celebration and reception along Olive Walk. Caltech Dining Services catered a barbecue lunch, with stations themed around each of the Institute's six academic divisions and JPL.

Attendees enjoyed live music, giveaways, and photo opportunities with Caltech's mascot, Bernoulli the Beaver.

Students offered glimpses of the creativity and technical prowess flourishing at Caltech today, from a Formula 1–style race car outside the Hameetman Center and a full-engine demonstration by PARSEC (Propulsion, Aeronautics, and Rocket Systems Engineering at Caltech) to the Caltech Robotics Team's robot couch and robot dog, and the research posters of First-Year Success Research Institute (FSRI) and Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF) students.

The festivities brought Jayawardhana's vision for Caltech's future into vivid focus, celebrating the community whose curiosity and creativity will carry the Institute into its next chapter.

In the closing moments of his address, Jayawardhana returned to the night on Mount Wilson and the poet Alfred Noyes who had come to witness the telescope's first light. He saw in it something greater than a feat of engineering, describing scientific discovery as having "its own epic unity" and as an endeavor of "the single torch passing from hand to hand through the centuries."

Jayawardhana reflected on Caltech's remarkable contributions to "this magnificent quest," from detecting gravitational waves and flying a helicopter on Mars to revealing how DNA is copied and repaired, and learning to direct evolution itself.

Looking toward the Institute's future, he found himself carried back to the garden of his childhood, where he first learned that human beings had walked on the Moon, and to the sense of boundless possibility it inspired. The question that had guided his own life became a parting challenge—and an invitation—to the Caltech community:

"If Caltech could do all that, what could we not do?"