SUBJECT:

Continued Appointment for Vice Chancellor – Research Sandra Brown

We are pleased to announce the continued appointment of Sandra A. Brown as Vice Chancellor for Research, following a successful five-year review. The review committee recognized Vice Chancellor Brown’s leadership in overseeing and advancing key research collaborations and building partnerships through the creation of new multidisciplinary centers and support programs, as well as accelerating and increasing visibility of UC San Diego’s research endeavors.

During her five-year term, Vice Chancellor Brown led an overhaul of the technology transfer and innovation portfolio, established the Office of Innovation and Commercialization, and oversaw the reorganization of the Office of Contracts and Grants. As a result, UC San Diego streamlined the license process, increased U.S. patents and sponsored-research agreements with new for-profit sponsors, and increased research application support and proposal assistance. She facilitated the development of new multidisciplinary centers that required extensive internal engagement and development efforts and external negotiations with other universities and sponsors. The centers include the Blum Center, the Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination, the Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research, the Center for Brain Activity Mapping, the 4D Nucleome Research Center, and the MicroBiome Institute. Through collaboration with the Academic Senate, the Frontiers of Innovation Scholars Program and the Frontiers of Innovation Center Launch Program were created to seed opportunities for interdisciplinary and large extramural funding efforts and support for undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral fellowships for multidisciplinary research.

Many visible and prestigious efforts that highlighted UC San Diego’s research for national and international audiences were initiated during Vice Chancellor Brown’s tenure, such as the 2015 Carbon-Neutrality Summit. She served in collaborative roles to benefit our campus research enterprise – from working closely with the Academic Senate Committee on Academic Privilege to develop metrics for new types of research products to chairing the University of California Council of Vice Chancellors for Research for three years.

Vice Chancellor Brown broadened engagement with the San Diego community and helped to sharpen our campus research goals through the collective development of UC San Diego’s first-ever Strategic Plan, resulting in four grand research themes that capitalize on our broad strengths across disciplines and focus on areas that have the most potential for positive global impact. The campus also received more than $1 billion in research funding last fiscal year, the fifth time in the past seven years that UC San Diego has achieved that milestone.

We are pleased to note the advances during her tenure, and we extend our appreciation to the review committee for its thorough work. Please join us in congratulating Vice Chancellor Brown for her contributions to the campus.

Pradeep K. Khosla Chancellor Peter C. Cowhey Interim Executive Vice Chancellor