Kavita Bala Named New Provost Of Cornell University

India-West News Desk
ITHACA, NY – Kavita Bala, dean of Cornell University’s College of Computing and Information Science, has been named the university’s 17th provost. Bala, a renowned expert in computer vision and graphics, will assume her new role on January 1, following the approval of her five-year appointment by the Executive Committee of the Cornell Board of Trustees.
Bala will succeed John Siliciano, a Cornell alumnus from the class of 1975. As provost, she will serve as the university’s chief academic and budget officer, overseeing academic programs, strategic planning, tenure, research initiatives, and academic supervision of the Ithaca campus.
“It is an incredible honor and privilege to serve as Cornell’s next provost,” Bala said. “We are living in an age of tremendous and rapid societal change driven by technological innovation. With Cornell’s intellectual breadth, we are positioned to meet both the challenges and the opportunity of our time.”
Bala emphasized her commitment to fostering an environment where all Cornellians can achieve their intellectual potential and contribute positively to society. Having spent 25 years at the university, she praised the faculty and staff’s dedication to educating future generations and promoting open inquiry and creativity.
Bala has played a pivotal role at Cornell, particularly during her time as dean of the Cornell Bowers CIS. She was instrumental in securing the naming gift for the college in 2020 and led it through significant growth, including a 30% increase in faculty and plans for a new 135,000 square-foot building set to open in 2025.
A champion for diversity, Bala has prioritized increasing access and retention for women and underrepresented minorities in computing. Women now make up 44% of the college’s majors—more than double the national average—while 18% of its students are from underrepresented groups.
Beyond academia, Bala co-founded GrokStyle, a visual recognition AI company that was later acquired by Facebook. Her work has also been featured at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City.
Bala holds a bachelor’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, and master’s and doctoral degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She joined Cornell as a postdoctoral researcher in 1999 and became an assistant professor in 2002.