Step Down of Executive Vice Chancellor Elizabeth H. Simmons

I write to inform you that Executive Vice Chancellor Elizabeth H. Simmons will step down from her role effective June 30, 2026, after nine years of successful and distinguished service. After serving in senior academic leadership roles at two different universities for more than 23 years, Simmons will transition to teaching and research as a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Physics at UC San Diego, following a one-year sabbatical.

As Executive Vice Chancellor, Simmons has been responsible for oversight of academic programs, for the recruitment and advancement of faculty, and for driving academic excellence, student support and student outcome initiatives at UC San Diego, while managing annual Academic Affairs expenditures in excess of $1.7B, 3.2M ASF of space, and over 13,500 academic, staff and research employees. In addition to leading the Divisions of Undergraduate Education, Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs, and Extended Studies, the University Library, the Preuss School, the Design Lab, the Qualcomm Institute, the San Diego Supercomputer Center, numerous administrative support units, and the general campus schools, she oversaw the creation and implementation of Seventh and Eighth Colleges, the formation of the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, the launch of the departments of Urban Studies & Planning, Astronomy & Astrophysics, and Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, and the establishment of the School of Computing, Information and Data Sciences.

Some of her notable accomplishments include:

Launching the “Erasing Equity Gaps via Collective Impact” initiative to give agency to academics and staff to collaborate throughout UC San Diego to build inclusive excellence in ways no office can accomplish alone. The five Collective Impact working groups are focused on initiatives to align and enhance student support systems, inclusivity programs and equity-driven practices that improve the UC San Diego experience for all students and instantiate advice from our 2020 reaffirmation of accreditation. Tangible outcomes to date include the enrollment of an additional 1,500 students in CalFresh through a strategic communications campaign, the creation of a Sense of Belonging toolkit for use by groups throughout the university, the proposal for an affordable textbook program to ensure all students have their full course materials at the start of every quarter, and new cross-campus results in engaged teaching, experiential learning, and mentoring, coaching and advising.
Enabling the Undergraduate Colleges to function as a unified system that undertakes systematic pedagogical innovation, collaborates on student onboarding programs, and coordinates its staffing and strategic planning to the benefit of all.
Bringing the Division of Extended Studies, the School of Global Policy and Strategy, and the Rady School of Management into deeper connection and collaboration with academic partners throughout the university.
Supporting co-creation of the Faculty Leadership Program and the New Faculty Academy, as well as reimagining New Faculty Orientation and multiple Faculty Learning Communities by the Teaching + Learning Commons, Organizational Transformation, and Academic Personnel to ensure that our faculty and academic leaders are well-prepared for their campus roles.
Sponsoring creation of the Triton Testing Center to support academic integrity, flexible assessment options, and ADA accommodations.
Overseeing faculty growth initiatives that brought us numerous colleagues of diverse fields and backgrounds, including unique interdisciplinary hires through the Chancellor’s Joint FTE Program; faculty whose research and teaching focuses on Black Studies & STEM, Chicanx/Latinx Studies, and Designing Just Futures; and many teaching professors who have brought crucial innovations to curricula across the university.
Maintaining a close shared-governance partnership with the Academic Senate through her work with the Committee on Academic Personnel and by co-sponsoring numerous Senate-Administration workgroups and implementing their recommendations on topics ranging from Holistic Teaching Evaluation, Distance Education, and Climate Change Education, to Student Preparation, Graduate Education and Academic Advancement.
Helping to lead the university through the COVID-19 pandemic, including the creation and implementation of the Educational Continuity Task Force and the Keep Teaching initiative, offering strategies and resources for remote and pandemic-resilient teaching.
Leading with an inclusive ethos – consistently bridging across units and vice chancellor areas – to create greater alignment with campus goals and ensure ideas and partnerships could extend throughout the UC San Diego community.

I am deeply grateful for Simmons’s partnership in our efforts to keep UC San Diego at the forefront of education and research, building on our academic strengths while maintaining the excellence of our academic core. Please join me in offering heartfelt thanks to Executive Vice Chancellor Simmons for her exemplary service. We are fortunate that she will continue to serve UC San Diego and its students through her dynamic teaching and groundbreaking research focused on the origins of the masses of the elementary subatomic particles. I am truly appreciative of her leadership and dedication during her time as Executive Vice Chancellor.

In the coming months we will launch an international search to identify a new Executive Vice Chancellor.

Pradeep K. Khosla
Chancellor
Joan and Irwin Jacobs Chancellor’s Endowed Chair

University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093