July 11, 2016
Dear Members of our Campus Community:
In my campus memo of February 29, I shared with you the news that, following a decade of inspired and selfless leadership of our College of Creative Studies, Dean Bruce Tiffney has decided to return to teaching and research, effective July 1, 2016.
On April 15, I announced the formation of a search advisory committee, chaired by Professor Omer Blaes, to conduct a national search for our next Dean.
I am pleased now to announce the appointment of an Interim Dean for CCS. Professor Kathy Foltz has graciously agreed to serve as Interim Dean, until such a time as the next Dean is in place. I appreciate the consultation provided by our Chair of the Academic Senate, Executive Vice Chancellor, Dean Bruce Tiffney, and faculty colleagues.
Professor Foltz joined our faculty in the Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and the Marine Science Institute in 1993. Since 1995, she has also been a faculty member with an emphasis in Biology at our College of Creative Studies. She holds a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Purdue University, and was an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow in Cell Biology and Biochemistry at Stony Brook.
Professor Foltz has a distinguished record of teaching, research, and university service. She has served on the CCS Executive Council and on a number of CCS committees, and served as program coordinator for CCS Biology. She has also served as co-P.I. for our campus’s Beckman Scholars Program, as member and vice chair of our Graduate Council, and as coordinator of the MCDB graduate program, among other contributions. Professor Foltz is passionate about teaching and the idea that teaching and research are complementary; her teaching integrates research and problem-solving at every level. As part of her long-standing commitment to undergraduate research, she has mentored 50 undergraduate students from both L&S and CCS in her lab since joining UCSB, many of whom have published papers with her.
Her research is focused on the molecular basis of gamete recognition, how sperm and egg interact, and how this interaction results in launching the developmental program. In her laboratory, she and her students use single-cell molecular and imaging techniques, high throughput proteomics platforms and network analyses, and cell biological approaches across several marine invertebrate model systems in order to address this complex biology. The fundamental research results have potential impact for contraceptive and assisted reproductive technologies, birth defects, immune cell activation, and host-pathogen interactions.
Professor Foltz was a National Science Foundation Presidential Faculty Fellow in 1995. She has been honored with an Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching Award, the Harold J. Plous Award for Excellence in Research and Teaching, and the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Contributions to Undergraduate Research.
Please join me in thanking Professor Foltz for her commitment to our campus and her timely service in this important interim role.
Sincerely,
Henry T. Yang
Chancellor