August 19, 2002

TO THE CAMPUS COMMUNITY

Dear Colleagues:

I am pleased to announce that three of our colleagues have graciously agreed to fill in the positions in the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor. Professor Gene Lucas will serve as the acting executive vice chancellor, Professor Mark Rose as the acting associate vice chancellor for academic personnel, and Professor Maria Herrera-Sobek as the acting associate vice chancellor for academic policy, all effective September 1, 2002.

I sincerely thank our many colleagues who have provided valuable advice and input during the searches to fill these positions.

Dr. Lucas has a long and distinguished career in research, teaching, and service. He is an alumnus of UCSB and has served on our faculty for over 24 years. He received his Sc.D. from MIT, and has made experimental investigations into the response of structural materials in energy and transportation systems the primary focus of his research. In addition to his many significant teaching and research accomplishments, Professor Lucas has also served as the associate chair of the Department of Materials, the vice chair of the Department of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering, the associate dean for advancement and planning for the College of Engineering, and the acting dean of the College of Engineering. He has been active on a number of Academic Senate committees, including serving as the co-vice chair of the Committee on Educational Policy and Academic Planning and as the chair of the Faculty Welfare Committee. He has chaired a number of important special committees as well, including the first Long Range Transportation Planning Committee, the Special Committee on the Clearview Oil and Gas Project, and, most recently, the Chancellor's Special Advisory Committee on Parking. Through these leadership positions, he has gained valuable experience in academic and capital planning, construction, resource allocation, budget, instruction, administration, and shared governance.

Dr. Rose is a professor in our Department of English, where he has taught for twenty-five years, twice served as department chair, and advanced to professor above-scale. He has served on many campus and systemwide committees. Professor Rose is also a former director of the systemwide University of California Humanities Research Institute, located at the Irvine campus. He studied at Princeton, Oxford, and Harvard, where he received his Ph.D. in English literature. Professor Rose has won a number of fellowships and awards for his contributions to the study of English literature, including two NEH fellowships. He is the author of three highly regarded texts on Renaissance literature, a historical novel, a prize-winning study of science fiction, and numerous other scholarly works. Professor Rose has a special interest in copyright matters, and is frequently called upon as a consultant and expert witness for the film and television industries. His book on the emergence of copyright in Britain in the eighteenth century was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award.

Dr. Maria Herrera-Sobek is a professor and the chair of our Department of Chicano Studies, and the holder of the Luis Leal Endowed Chair in Chicano Studies. Before joining our campus, Professor Herrera-Sobek was a member of the faculty at UC Irvine, as well as a visiting professor at Stanford and Harvard. She held a number of leadership positions at UCI, including director of the Women’s Studies Program, acting chair of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, acting director of the Latin American/Chicano Studies Program, and director of the Chicano/Latino Studies Program. Here at UCSB, she has served on numerous committees, including the Academic Senate’s Committee on Educational Policy and Academic Planning. Professor Herrera-Sobek has received many honors and awards for her scholarship, leadership, and service, and has advanced to step IX in her professorship. She has published a number of influential books, including The Bracero Experience: Elitelore versus Folklore, The Mexican Corrido: A Feminist Analysis, and Northward Bound: The Mexican Immigrant Experience in Ballad and Song . She has also edited 13 books, including the most recent award-winning books Culture Across Borders: Mexican Immigration and Popular Culture and Santa Barraza: Artist of the Borderlands. Her books, poems, and scholarly articles are read and cited around the world. Professor Herrera-Sobek will begin service as the acting associate vice chancellor for academic policy at quarter-time during the fall quarter while still serving as the chair of our Department of Chicano Studies, in order to foster a smooth transition of her chairship. She will assume the position of acting associate vice chancellor for academic policy at half-time beginning January 1, 2003.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my thanks to Professor Arthur Gossard, currently serving as the acting associate vice chancellor for academic personnel until September 25, 2002, for his dedicated and outstanding service during the summer.

I am confident this outstanding group of colleagues will serve our campus well. I look forward to the exciting academic year ahead, as we continue to fulfill our mission and advance our stature as a preeminent university.

Sincerely,

Henry T. Yang
Chancellor