The California Institute of Technology on Thursday said that Thomas F. Rosenbaum, provost and physics professor at the University of Chicago, has been named the Pasadena university’s ninth president.

Rosenbaum, 58, succeeds Jean-Lou Chameau, who stepped down earlier this year. Rosenbaum won’t begin until July 1, so Edward Stolper, Caltech’s interim president and provost, will continue serving until then.

Rosenbaum received his bachelor’s degree in physics from Harvard University and both a master’s and doctorate in physics from Princeton University, specializing in quantum mechanics. Before joining the University of Chicago in 1983, he was a researcher at Bell Laboratories and IBM Watson Research Center.

At the University of Chicago, Rosenbaum started the Institute of Molecular Engineering, a collaboration with Argonne National Lab.

Rosenbaum’s “combination of deep management experience and visionary leadership … will serve Caltech extremely well in the coming years,” Chairman David Lee said in a statement.

Rosenbaum’s wife, Katherine T. Faber, also will join the Caltech faculty next year. She currently is the Walter P. Murphy Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University.