The Johns Hopkins University has named Lainie Rutkow interim provost.

Rutkow, a professor of health policy and management at Baltimore’s elite university, is known for leading the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, a real-time dashboard of COVID-19 cases during the pandemic.

Her appointment comes after Ray Jayawardhana, the university’s current chief academic officer, announced he would depart Baltimore to become the 10th president of the California Institute of Technology this summer. Jayawardhana will step down from his role in mid-February and will remain on the faculty at Hopkins until July.

“I am deeply appreciative of Lainie’s willingness to serve as interim provost during this critical period for Johns Hopkins,” President Ron Daniels wrote in a message announcing the decision on Wednesday.

Rutkow, who previously worked as executive vice provost at the university, has spent most of her professional career at Johns Hopkins. After earning an undergraduate degree at Yale University and a law degree at New York University, Rutkow enrolled at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, receiving master’s and doctoral degrees.

She has also spent her entire teaching career at Hopkins and has, while working at the Bloomberg School, served in a number of administrative roles.

Rutkow previously worked as senior adviser to Daniels for national capital academic strategy, a senior adviser to Daniels for strategic initiatives, and vice provost for interdisciplinary initiatives.

Daniels wrote that Rutkow has previously worked in both the executive and legislative branches of the federal government, which could be useful for the university, which historically receives the most federal research funding in the nation.

Rutkow will step into the role as the university grapples with an onslaught of changes driven by the Trump administration: cuts to federal funding, changes to award calculations, an investigation into alleged antisemitism and policies impacting international students.

Johns Hopkins announced its largest layoffs in its 150-year history last year and has frozen most hiring in response to changes in federal policy.

As executive vice provost, Rutkow oversaw faculty affairs, student affairs, admissions and financial aid, diversity and inclusion, institutional equity and student health and well-being, according to the university’s website. She was also “integrally involved” with the creation of the Johns Hopkins School of Government and Policy.

The university has not announced plans for a national search to permanently fill the role, a typical step for top leadership jobs.

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Jayawardhana will step down from his role as provost in February but remain on the Hopkins faculty through June.

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