SUBJECT:

Appointment of Interim Dean, Division of Arts and Humanities

I am pleased to announce that Eric Van Young, Professor in the Department of History, has agreed to serve as Interim Dean of the Division of Arts and Humanities effective July 1, 2007.

Professor Van Young has been on the faculty of UCSD since 1982. He is a stellar scholar who has earned national and international recognition as a historian of colonial and Nineteenth Century Mexico. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley under the direction of the late and very distinguished Woodrow Borah. He is one of the leading scholars of Mexican history in the United States and is similarly regarded in Mexico, where he serves on the editorial boards of several Mexican journals and lectures widely.

Professor Van Young served as chair of the Department of History from 2000-2004, and was an outstanding, effective, and highly regarded chair. He has been active in university-wide service, primarily in conjunction with the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies (CUSMS) and the Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies (CILAS). He has been a member of the CILAS Executive Board since 2002. He was for five years Associate Director of CUSMS, has served on several committees there, and was also chair of the Faculty Advisory Committee. He has also been a member of the Committee on Academic Personnel, as well as Shadow-CAP and the CAP Advisory Committee on the Arts. Outside UCSD his service includes the Presidency of the Conference on Latin American History.

Professor Van Young's administrative and scholarly accomplishments make him exceptionally well qualified to provide leadership as Interim Dean of the Division of Arts and Humanities until a new permanent Dean is identified. Please join me in thanking Professor Van Young for his commitment to facilitating a positive transition for the Division of Arts and Humanities and the University. A national search for a new Dean will be initiated shortly.

Marsha A. Chandler Senior Vice Chancellor