April 2, 2004
TO THE CAMPUS COMMUNITY
Dear Colleagues:
I wrote to you in August to share the good news of the appointment of Dr. Melvin Oliver as UCSB’s dean of social sciences. Dr. Oliver has been serving as the vice president for asset building and community development at the Ford Foundation, and is a former professor of sociology and policy studies at UCLA. He is a highly regarded scholar and social scientist, as well as an experienced administrator with a tremendous vision for the future of social sciences at UCSB. In addition to serving as dean, he will also be joining the faculty in our Department of Sociology. I am pleased to announce that Dr. Oliver’s first day on campus will be next Monday, April 5.
On behalf of our UCSB community, EVC Gene Lucas and I would again like to express our sincere gratitude to Professor John Woolley for his superb leadership and dedicated service as our acting dean of social sciences during this critical period. In working with fellow administrators and our faculty and staff colleagues in the social sciences, Professor Woolley has made significant progress in addressing quite a number of important issues. As a result, the positive momentum of the Division of Social Sciences has been sustained and noticeably enhanced. Professor Woolley has also been working closely with Dr. Oliver to ensure a smooth transition. Professor Woolley will resume his prior position as faculty advisor to the provost, and we look forward to continuing to benefit from his guidance and expertise.
This is an exciting milestone for our Division of Social Sciences and our campus. Please join me next week in extending a very warm welcome to our distinguished colleague, Dean Melvin Oliver, as well as a heartfelt thank you to Acting Dean John Woolley.
Sincerely,
Henry T. Yang
Chancellor