Community Member Milestones
- Welcome to Caltech:
Deeksha Mohanty
Deeksha joined IPAC in August as an applications developer on the Data Science Team, where she will work on preparing large astronomical catalogs for scientific analysis and developing tools to help researchers access, explore, and derive scientific insights from the data. Prior to Caltech, she completed her M.S. in computer science at Michigan State University.
- Welcome to Caltech:
Elena Cazares
Elena joined Caltech in July as a business operations associate for the Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, supporting the Caltech Optical Observatories team with procurements, onboarding, travel, expense reports, and more. She previously spent nearly a decade at JPL and will complete her MBA in project management from Mount Saint Mary's University this December.
- In memoriam:
Pam Koyzis
Pam, who dedicated 25 years of service to Caltech, passed away peacefully at her home on July 28, 2026, after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 68 years old. The flag at Caltech Hall will be lowered from Wednesday, August 19, to Friday, August 21, to honor her.
- Welcome to Caltech:
Caitlyn Shen
Caitlyn recently joined Caltech as an undergraduate admissions counselor. She brings a communications background to higher education and enjoys helping tell the stories of Caltech's community while connecting with prospective students from around the world. Caitlyn previously spent nearly a decade in B2B tech, leading public relations, marketing, and social media initiatives for organizations including AT&T, Intel, Honeywell Aerospace, NeurIPS, and Silicon Labs.
- Celebrating a recognition:
Customer Service Excellence Cohort
26 Caltech staff members completed over 700 hours of in-person and live online training, earning certificates in customer service excellence and achieving a remarkable 100% completion rate. The Institute-tailored customer service excellence program was a pilot project by Caltech Facilities and Dale Carnegie Training.
- Welcome to Caltech:
Emily Henson
Emily recently joined Caltech’s Office of the President as director of presidential engagement, where she leads executive communications and speechwriting. She brings extensive experience in leadership communications and executive engagement, having served as deputy chief of staff to the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University, and as chief communications strategist and speechwriter to the provost at Johns Hopkins University.