Soulaymane Kachani promoted to senior vice provost

Upper West Side NY

03 March, 2022

4:10 PM

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Columbia Daily Spectator BY SARA KIRKHAM MARCH 1, 2022 University Provost Mary C. Boyce has promoted Soulaymane Kachani, former senior vice dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and a professor of industrial engineering and operations research, to the position of senior vice provost. The appointment was announced on the SEAS website on Friday, although the University says that Kachani has been serving in the role since the beginning of the spring semester. The senior vice provost is responsible for the development of the University's teaching, learning, and innovation strategies. "Professor Kachani has distinguished himself as an outstanding educator, innovator, and administrator," Boyce wrote in an email to colleagues on Feb. 21. In his new position, Kachani hopes to grow the University's online and hybrid learning options. He also plans to expand on the University's current international academic partnerships and to create new ones. Within the Office of the Provost, Kachani will assist with the budget, administrative planning, and coordination surrounding student-workers. Kachani has worked at Columbia since 2003, when he started as an assistant professor. Kachani served for eight years as the vice provost for teaching, learning, and innovation and played a critical role in the 2015 creation of the Center for Teaching and Learning, which helped faculty and students pivot to remote learning throughout the pandemic and continues to support innovation in instruction. In his time as senior vice dean, Kachani oversaw the formation of dual degree collaborations with leading international universities and the development of flagship Master of Science degree programs created with the Business School and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Kachani holds a Master of Science in Operations Research and a Ph.D. in Operations Research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was a senior consultant in the Boston office of McKinsey & Company, a management consulting firm the University hired roughly a decade ago—after Kachani's departure from the firm—to complete a controversial report on Arts & Sciences administrative governance. Outside of his administrative duties, Kachani researches machine learning, logistics, and supply chain management, among other subjects. His undergraduate and graduate-level courses center around subjects such as quantitative corporate finance and industrial economics. Kachani was appointed by Provost Mary Boyce, who made a similar transition from SEAS leadership to a central administrative position at the end of 2020. Provost Boyce was the first dean of SEAS to be named provost since 1982, when Peter Likins finished his tenure as provost of the University's professional schools. Staff writer Sara Kirkham can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @saraokirkham. Founded in 1877, the Columbia Daily Spectator is the independent undergraduate newspaper of Columbia University, serving thousands of readers in Morningside Heights, West Harlem, and beyond. Read more at columbiaspectator.com and donate here.