In addition, he previously served as a Dean of Engineering and provost of the Georgia Institute of Technology.
He received his secondary, undergraduate, and graduate education in France where he attended the École nationale supérieure des arts et métiers (aka.
He later went to the United States to obtain his Ph.D in civil engineering from Stanford University in 1981 while working under the direction of G. Wayne Clough.
Chameau became president of Caltech on 1 September 2006, succeeding David Baltimore who served nearly nine years in the post.
Chameau retired as the president of KAUST in August 2017[4] In 2010, he was awarded membership in the Legion of Honour in the grade of Chevalier.