Advisory committee named for UC Santa Barbara Chancellor search

University of California President Michael V. Drake, M.D., has announced the formation of a search advisory committee of university faculty, staff, students, alumni and foundation representatives to participate in the national search for a new chancellor to lead the UC Santa Barbara campus. Per policy, Regent Janet Reilly, the Board of Regents Chair for 2024-2025 who serves an ex officio member of the committee, appointed five other regents to serve on the committee.

UC Santa Barbara Chancellor Henry T. Yang announced in August that he plans to step down at the end of the 2024-2025 academic year and return to the faculty.

The search advisory committee includes:

• Michael V. Drake, M.D., UC President (Committee Chair)
• Janet Reilly, Chair, UC Board of Regents
• Michael Cohen, UC Regent
• Jose M. Hernandez, UC Regent
• Nancy Lee, UC Regent
• Richard Leib, UC Regent
• Hadi Makarechian, UC Regent
• Ahmet Palazoglu, Vice Chair, Systemwide Academic Senate and Professor of Chemical Engineering, UC Davis
• Lars Bildsten, Director, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics and Professor of Theoretical Physics, UC Santa Barbara
• Dolores "Inés" Casillas, Professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies and Director of the Chicano Studies Institute, UC Santa Barbara
• Susannah Scott, Professor of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry & Biochemistry, UC Santa Barbara
• Ajay Gopinathan, Professor of Physics, UC Merced
• Gene Lucas, Foundation Trustee, UC Santa Barbara
• Joel Raznick, Former President, UC Santa Barbara Alumni Board of Directors
• Greta Carl-Halle, Business Officer, UC Santa Barbara Staff Representative
• Laura Snell, Co-President, UC Santa Barbara Graduate Student Association
• Daniyal "Dan" Siddiqui, First Senate President Pro Tempore of the ASUCSB Senate

The search advisory committee will be involved in recruiting, screening and conducting interviews with candidates for the position. The committee's work will occur in time for candidates to be presented to President Drake for consideration and a recommended final candidate to be submitted to the Board of Regents for approval, tentatively in the spring of 2025.

The committee's first in-person meeting will be held November 19, 2024, in the UC Santa Barbara area, where members and invited guests will gather in a closed session. The forum will include remarks by President Drake, followed by separate sessions with various campus constituency groups. The president and committee members will also participate in a luncheon with donors, alumni, and government and community leaders.

Town hall listening sessions open to the UC Santa Barbara community are scheduled for November 20 via virtual meetings. The sessions will focus on the needs and interests of UC Santa Barbara constituencies, including faculty, staff, undergraduate students, graduate students, donors and alumni.

In addition to presentations by constituency representatives who will meet with the committee and the town hall listening sessions, public input is encouraged throughout the search process. Comments may be submitted via email to [email protected] or online survey.

The executive search firm Greenwood/Asher & Associates will assist in the process. Submission of nominations and application materials may be sent via email to: [email protected].

• More information about the search: UCSB chancellor search website

• Regents' policy on the appointment of chancellors: http://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/governance/policies/7102.html

• More news and information about the University of California: www.universityofcalifornia.edu

• Information about the UC Santa Barbara campus: www.ucsb.edu

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