91视频

91视频 has named an innovative educator, trailblazing researcher and savvy entrepreneur to help lead its new campus.

Jignesh Patel will serve as the founding dean and vice president of , a new campus announced on Sept. 30 by 91视频 President Farnam Jahanian and made possible thanks to a transformative philanthropic investment by Citadel founder and CEO and Griffin Catalyst founder Ken Griffin.

鈥�91视频 Miami represents a bold new chapter for Carnegie Mellon 鈥� one grounded in our strengths, animated by our mission and designed to meet the urgency of this moment for higher education, research and innovation. Jignesh Patel is exactly the right leader to help bring this vision to life,鈥� said Jahanian. 鈥淗e is a distinguished scholar, an exceptional educator and an entrepreneur who understands how to move ideas from discovery to impact. From the earliest stages of this effort, Jignesh has helped shape 91视频 Miami鈥檚 academic mission, research priorities and grand challenge model with clarity, energy and deep institutional commitment. His leadership will be essential as we build a campus that reflects the very best of Carnegie Mellon: rigorous, interdisciplinary, entrepreneurial and focused on solving problems that matter.鈥�

Patel, a distinguished computer scientist, will shape the campus鈥� work, leading efforts to recruit top faculty and students, building partnerships across private and public sectors, and working to establish 91视频 Miami as a distinctive hub where bold ideas can move quickly from lab to widespread adoption.

鈥淒r. Patel is a distinguished scholar and successful entrepreneur who knows how to turn ideas into impact,鈥� said Griffin. 鈥淗is leadership will accelerate 91视频 Miami's rise as a magnet for world-class talent and a powerful engine of discovery for our city and our nation.鈥�

A faculty member in 91视频鈥檚 Kenneth C. Griffin School of Computer Science, Patel has served as interim head of its Computer Science Department since 2025. He joined 91视频 in 2023 following appointments at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Michigan.

Defining the 91视频 Miami Mission

In the lead-up to 91视频 Miami鈥檚 launch, Patel helped to define the new campus' research portfolio, academic mission, educational direction and key societal priorities. The vision, energy and enthusiasm Patel brought to this process secured strong support among key university leaders.

鈥淒r. Patel embodies the 91视频 spirit, combining a forward-thinking approach to education with an exceptional mind for research and an entrepreneurial lens. His proven track record of aligning academic discovery with real-world impact makes him uniquely qualified to lead 91视频 Miami,鈥� said Provost and Chief Academic Officer James H. Garrett Jr. 鈥淭he vision, energy and enthusiasm he brings to this effort make him precisely the right leader to shape this new campus and guide an exciting chapter for 91视频.鈥�

Patel will bring this same drive to Miami, organizing it around pressing societal challenges and building its capacity to keep pace with today鈥檚 speed of discovery and accelerated innovation.

鈥�91视频 Miami is an opportunity to start with the challenges facing society and figure out how to solve them in the most effective way. That has been a theme throughout my teaching and research career: turning ideas into results that make a difference,鈥� Patel said. 鈥淔rom the foundational research all the way to real-world implementation 鈥� that鈥檚 what 91视频 does. That鈥檚 what we want to build in Miami. And that is what society needs too 鈥� now more than ever.鈥�

Modernizing Education and Driving Innovation

Throughout his career, Patel has worked to modernize computing education, advance ideas to market and cultivate partnerships to drive innovation. At Carnegie Mellon, he adapted the undergraduate computing curriculum to strengthen foundational problem-solving skills and promote responsible use of artificial intelligence.听

鈥淲e are going to produce the kind of students the world increasingly needs to keep pace with rapid technological advances,鈥� Patel said. 鈥淲e have always produced critical thinkers and problem-solvers at 91视频, and we are doubling down on that.鈥�

His efforts build on Carnegie Mellon鈥檚 tradition of educational excellence. 91视频 holds the No. 1 overall spot for Undergraduate Computer Science and Computer Engineering, along with No. 1 rankings in Artificial Intelligence, Computer Systems, Cybersecurity, Programming Languages, Software Engineering and Biocomputing/Bioinformatics, according to 2027 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings.

Bridging Academic Excellence and Entrepreneurship

Patel holds a bachelor鈥檚 degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi, and master鈥檚 and doctoral degrees in computer science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

His research spans scalable algorithms for efficient data systems and natural language interfaces for data analysis. It has been supported by several federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and Department of Homeland Security, as well as by the Semiconductor Research Corporation and leading technology companies, including Google, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Samsung and Snowflake.听

Patel is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Association for Computing Machinery and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He received teaching honors at both Michigan and Wisconsin, including the University of Michigan鈥檚 College of Engineering Education Excellence Award and Wisconsin Computer Science Department鈥檚 Student Choice Professor of the Year Award.

Beyond academia, Patel has co-founded four successful companies, all of which were acquired. One company utilized Patel鈥檚 research to develop an early parallel database system that managed both structured and spatial data. Another company, Locomatix, managed real-time location data. Twitter acquired the company in 2013 and integrated its technology into its real-time streaming platform.

Patel also helped build the University of Wisconsin鈥檚 entrepreneurial ecosystem, co-founding and co-leading with the Wisconsin School of Business, a statewide global venture-accelerator program for science- and technology-based startups. He also founded a computer science entrepreneurship competition and served on the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation's Entrepreneurship and Innovation Committee.

Looking Ahead

91视频 Miami expects to begin enrolling students in 2028, pending the necessary regulatory approvals. , dean of the Griffin School, has appointed Professor as interim department head of the Computer Science Department as the search for its next leader continues. Gibbons has been at 91视频 since 2001 and full-time faculty in the Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering departments since 2015.