SUBJECT: Vice Chancellor and SIO Director Charles Kennel

After more than seven years at the helm of Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), Vice Chancellor Charles Kennel has agreed to play a leading role in planning to develop a campus-wide initiative to address environmental sustainability. Therefore, Charlie has informed me of his intention to step down as Vice Chancellor of Marine Sciences and Director of SIO, effective upon the selection of a new leader of Marine Sciences and SIO or no later than September 2006. Charlie's widely recognized expertise in environmental sustainability and his commitment to this initiative will ensure the elements necessary for a comprehensive, collaborative UCSD program.

Charlie has much to be proud of in his accomplishments at SIO. He effectively positioned SIO to take the lead in multidisciplinary programs at UCSD. Under his leadership, SIO established new degree programs, expanded both undergraduate and graduate teaching, and established new centers in Genomics; Marine Biodiversity and Conservation; Observations, Modeling and Prediction; Coastal Ocean Observing; and Earth Observations and Applications. SIO's initiatives are a model for collaboration with other UCSD units and with Calit2. He strengthened SIO's external partnerships and he launched international efforts, especially in global ocean observing. He has placed the Birch Aquarium at Scripps on a strong new course and has built solid relationships with the national community through the SIO Council advisory board and with the San Diego community through the Scripps Director's Cabinet. He has led the effort that has increased private support for Scripps's innovative programs.

I appreciate Charlie's broad knowledge, his ability to encourage the use of innovative technologies, and his commitment to discovery. All of us at UCSD are grateful for Charlie's leadership, and I am indebted to him for his stewardship of SIO and our Marine Sciences programs. I am pleased that Charlie intends to be active as a professor of climate and environmental sciences at SIO.

In the next several weeks, after consultation with the campus community and the Academic Senate, I will launch an international search for his successor, which will be a significant challenge.

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Marye Anne Fox Chancellor