July 7, 2015
Dear Members of our Campus Community,
It is with mixed feelings that I write to announce the departure of our Associate Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs and Communications John Longbrake. We are grateful for his many contributions to our university, and sorry to see him leave us. At the same time, we warmly congratulate him on his new position as Vice President for Communications at the University of Chicago, and we wish him well in this next phase of his career.
John joined our UC Santa Barbara community in September of 2012, coming to us from Harvard University, where he previously served as Assistant Vice President for Communications. He has made extraordinary contributions here, working collaboratively with all of our community members, both on and off campus, in order to strengthen our communications and advance our university’s reputation. In working with him closely and personally on these efforts, I have appreciated his talent, creativity, and sincere devotion to sharing the UC Santa Barbara story with a global audience.
John will take up his new position in August. I will be moving forward quickly to consult with our administrative and Academic Senate colleagues in order to appoint interim leadership and form a search advisory committee to undertake the search for our next Associate Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs and Communications. In the meantime, please join me in thanking John for his leadership and accomplishments, and in wishing him and his family the very best as they move on to the next stage of his illustrious career and life.
Sincerely,
Henry T. Yang
Chancellor