SUBJECT:

Retirement – Senior Vice Chancellor Paul W. Drake

It is with sincere appreciation and deep regret that I announce Senior Vice Chancellor – Academic Affairs Paul W. Drake’s decision to retire from UC San Diego, effective October 1, 2010. Paul has been a distinguished member of our faculty since 1984, serving as Chair of the Department of Political Science and then Dean of the Division of Social Sciences for 12 years, prior to his appointment as SVCAA in 2007. He is a widely respected leader and scholar in both the UC San Diego and international academic communities, and has made immeasurable contributions to this campus.

As SVCAA, Paul is the chief academic officer of the University, responsible for policies and decisions relating to all academic programs and faculty appointments and performance. He is responsible for the recruitment, advancement and retention of our world-class faculty, deans and other academic leaders, and for academic planning, programming and budgeting on the General Campus. He oversees graduate and undergraduate education, the six colleges, research centers and the UCSD libraries.

Despite the difficult budgetary decisions Paul has had to make as SVCAA during this period of unprecedented fiscal challenge, he remains deeply committed to maintaining the excellence of our research and teaching mission, and has worked diligently to protect our academic core. He has led Academic Affairs through difficult budget deliberations and spearheaded academic planning efforts for the UC San Diego of Tomorrow. He was a strong advocate for improvements to the furlough program impacting faculty and staff systemwide and currently serves as Co-Chair of the Joint Senate-Administration Task Force on Budget. Under Paul’s visionary leadership, we have built upon existing academic strengths while identifying innovative and interdisciplinary initiatives and programs including a successful cluster hire venture in environmental sustainability. He has also played an important role in the development of the recently launched Invent the Future: The UC San Diego Student Support Campaign and has been instrumental in the planning of UC San Diego’s 50th anniversary celebration next year.

Paul should also be credited for his broad efforts to improve diversity among students, faculty and staff. Working with the Academic Senate, he co-chaired the initial Task Force on K-12 Outreach. It resulted in the establishment of the Center for Research in Educational Equity, Assessment, and Teaching Excellence (CREATE) and The Preuss School, where he served for many years on its Board of Directors and currently provides administrative oversight in his role as SVCAA. He also helped design the interdisciplinary cluster hire on California Cultures in Comparative Perspective, co-chaired the Task Force on Underrepresented Faculty and served on the University of California’s Committee on Affirmative Action. In addition, he has promoted new staff development programs. As SVCAA, he appointed the first Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty Equity.

A longtime member of the faculty in UC San Diego’s Department of Political Science, Paul also maintains adjunct appointments in History and IR/PS. A Distinguished Professor, Above Scale, he holds the Institute of the Americas Chair for Inter-American Affairs. Paul also served as director of the Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies (CILAS) from 1984-89. In addition, it was during his tenure as Dean of the Division of Social Sciences that many departments within the division rose notably in academic stature and now rank in the top 10 academic programs in the nation. A renowned scholar of Latin American politics and history, Paul has published 11 books and dozens of major research articles.

Please join me in congratulating Senior Vice Chancellor Drake on his impending retirement. I am enormously grateful for his exceptional leadership of Academic Affairs, which will continue throughout this academic year.

A national search will be conducted for his successor.

Marye Anne Fox Chancellor