Reappointment of Steven Boggs as Dean of the School of Physical Sciences and Decanal Transition Announcement

Dear Colleagues,

We are delighted to inform the campus community of the continued appointment of Steven Boggs as dean of the School of Physical Sciences following his recent five-year review. Yet this announcement is bittersweet. While Dean Boggs is looking forward to making further progress on key initiatives in the School of Physical Sciences, an exceptional opportunity for his research program in experimental high-energy astrophysics has also arisen. Dean Boggs has therefore decided to continue one more year in his administrative role, and then transition back to the faculty.

Dean Boggs has served as leader of the School of Physical Sciences since 2017. Prior to joining UC San Diego, he served as a professor and chair of the Department of Physics at UC Berkeley and served as Associate Director of their Space Sciences Laboratory. He also leads a vibrant research group in the development and scientific deployment of gamma-ray telescopes for astrophysical studies, which resulted in NASA’s selection in 2021 of the Compton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI) all-sky survey mission which utilizes novel sensor technologies developed through his research.

The School of Physical Sciences spans the departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Mathematics, and Physics, along with a number of high-profile interdisciplinary research centers and jointly administered degree programs. It also reaches beyond the purely scientific through the Clarke Center for Human Imagination and the Research Communication Program.

The School of Physical Sciences has continued to diversify and elevate its profile and international stature under the leadership of Dean Boggs. He has worked to increase the visibility and modernity of the research mission of the school, grown its research funding by 23%, increased Ph.D. student enrollment by 27%, revitalized its industry advisory board, and significantly improved organizational coherence and efficiency.

Some specific accomplishments by Dean Boggs during the last five years include:

Integrating strategies for equity and inclusion throughout the operations of the school and its departments. This has included establishing an Associate Dean for EDI and a Division EDI Committee and establishing EDI strategic plans in all units, as well as creating a staff Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Climate Committee in response to recommendations from the school’s 2019 EDI Accountability Review.
In partnership with the Jacobs School of Engineering, jointly established the Institute for Materials Discovery and Design (IMDD) to position UC San Diego as a global academic leader in the science and engineering of nanoscale and quantum materials.
Providing leadership for efforts that have notably improved the school’s graduation rates, from 63% (2013 cohort) to 75% (2017 cohort) for first-time freshmen graduating in four years and from 26% (2015 cohort) to 55% (2019 cohort) for transfer students graduating in two years. There has been significant progress toward closing opportunity gaps for students as well.
Significantly improving the undergraduate experience of students in the school. In particular, Dean Boggs led the conceptualization and opening of a Student Success Center to increase retention and graduation rates in the physical sciences, while promoting a sustainable culture of academic excellence. Through linkages with industry professionals, the Center provides professional development as well as research and internship experiences for students, to help prepare a diverse workforce of future leaders.
Improving the faculty diversity within the School of Physical Sciences through hiring and retention efforts that brought 29% more faculty FTE to the school, including participation in the Black Diaspora in STEM cluster hire for Advancing Faculty Diversity.

We are pleased to acknowledge the many advances during Dean Boggs’ first term, and we extend our sincere appreciation to the review committee for its thorough work and its suggestions for continuing to build the strength and reputation of the School of Physical Sciences going forward.

In recent months, Dean Boggs has been presented with an exceptional opportunity to expand his research. After much consideration, he has decided to continue as dean through June 30, 2023, to finalize several initiatives now underway in the School, and then transition back to a full-time faculty role so he can dedicate more time to this pivotal scholarship as the Deputy Principal Investigator of NASA’s COSI mission. We will soon announce plans to begin an international search for the next dean for the School of Physical Sciences during the fall quarter.

Please join us in congratulating Dean Boggs on his outstanding service to UC San Diego as the Dean of the School of Physical Sciences.

Sincerely,

Pradeep K. Khosla
Chancellor

Elizabeth H. Simmons
Executive Vice Chancellor