February 19, 2016

Dear Members of our Campus Community,

In my campus memo of January 21, I shared with you the news that after nearly 11 years of exceptional leadership as our Vice Chancellor for Research, Dr. Michael Witherell has accepted the invitation to become the next Director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Following consultation with our Executive Vice Chancellor, Academic Senate Chair, Deans, and other administrative and faculty colleagues, I am pleased to announce that Professor Joseph Incandela has graciously agreed to serve as Interim Vice Chancellor for Research, effective March 1, 2016.

Dr. Incandela joined our campus community in 2000 as a professor in our Physics Department, after spending about a decade at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. In 2013, he was appointed as the inaugural Joe and Pat Yzurdiaga Chair in Experimental Science. For the past two decades, he has been involved with the Large Hadron Collider at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), initially leading the construction of a large part of the tracking system for the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment. In early 2011, he was elected to be the leader of the CMS experiment, involving more than 3,000 scientists from 39 countries, and the following year, on July 4, 2012, Professor Incandela announced the discovery of the Higgs Boson, more commonly known as “the God particle.” He is a member of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences, a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a recipient of the 2012 Special Fundamental Physics Prize.

He has been an active participant in our campus governance, serving as a current member of the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Faculty and Staff Housing, and the Design Review Committee. He previously served as a member of the Academic Senate’s Council on Planning and Budget, chairing the subpanel on Social Sciences as well as Capital and Space Planning. We appreciate Professor Incandela’s dedication to our campus, and his continued commitment as evidenced by his new leadership role.

I look forward to making an announcement in the near future regarding the formation of our search advisory committee for the next Vice Chancellor for Research. Please join me in extending our heartfelt thanks and best wishes to Vice Chancellor Witherell as he moves on to his new position. Please also join me in thanking Professor Incandela for his willingness to serve as Acting Vice Chancellor. His leadership and experience will serve our campus well during this important transition.

Sincerely,

Henry T. Yang
Chancellor