SUBJECT:

Appointment of Faculty Director of the Teaching & Learning Commons

It is my pleasure to announce that Gabriele Wienhausen, Biological Sciences Associate Dean for Education, and Senior Teaching Professor of the Cell and Developmental Biology Section of the Division of Biological Sciences, has been appointed as the inaugural Faculty Director of the Teaching & Learning Commons, effective March 9, 2015.

The Teaching & Learning Commons is being established with the aim to significantly enhance teaching and learning at UC San Diego, and will further our campus' strategic goal to become a more student-centered university. The Commons will continue the work of the Education Initiative, developing and providing programs and services for undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty.

Professor Wienhausen received her Ph.D. from Westfälische Wilhelms Universität in 1979 and joined the Division of Biological Sciences in 1987. As Associate Dean for Education in the Division of Biological Sciences, Professor Wienhausen has provided leadership for the strategic and operational aspects of the Division's educational mission since 2007. Her broad portfolio as Associate Dean included increasing the effectiveness of the faculty's teaching, promoting the needs of a diverse faculty and student body, improving the quality of the educational experience for the Division's undergraduate and graduate students, and facilitating the implementation of educational activities with other schools and other departments on campus, as well as with community and K-12 schools.

She brings to the faculty directorship of the Teaching & Learning Commons, a track record of providing vision, coordinating diverse constituencies, and working tirelessly in leadership roles that profoundly impact students. She has served as founding Provost of UC San Diego's Sixth College, founding faculty member and co-director of the UCSD/SDSU Joint Doctoral Program in Math and Science Education, Principal Investigator for the NSF-funded PRIME international summer research program, Principal Investigator for the Howard Hughes Science Enrichment Program, founding co-director of the COSMOS summer math and science initiative, and co-founder of the Global TIES multidisciplinary internship program.

Professor Wienhausen's administrative and academic accomplishments and her commitment to faculty and students make her exceptionally well qualified to provide leadership as inaugural Faculty Director of the Teaching & Learning Commons. I am delighted that she has accepted this important and challenging leadership position, and ask that you join me in offering her best wishes and support in her new role.

Suresh Subramani Executive Vice Chancellor