I am pleased to announce that Meenakshi Wadhwa, Ph.D., has been appointed to the position of Vice Chancellor for Marine Sciences, Dean of the newly named School of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, previously known as the School of Marine Sciences, and Director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Wadhwa will also hold the Charles F. Kennel Director’s Endowed Chair. She will join UC San Diego in October 2025.
Wadhwa’s selection follows a national search for an innovative and acclaimed scientist to lead UC San Diego’s ocean, Earth and atmospheric sciences research and education programs at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. She is an esteemed researcher and globally recognized leader with extensive expertise in geosciences, planetary sciences and physical sciences at the national and international levels.
Wadhwa has held various leadership and executive positions in academic, governmental and non-profit organizations. She served as Director of the School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE) at Arizona State University (ASU), overseeing an active research program and educational programs in the geosciences, ocean sciences, planetary sciences, astrobiology, space physics, astronomy and astrophysics, engineering for exploration and science education. Prior to her role at SESE, Wadhwa served as Director of the Center for Meteorite Studies at ASU.
Wadhwa brings extensive research and leadership experience, including her service as NASA's Principal Scientist for the Mars Sample Return (MSR) Program and as a member of the science teams for multiple spacecraft missions, including JAXA's Hayabusa2 mission, which returned samples from asteroid Ryugu, and NASA's Genesis Discovery mission, which returned solar wind samples to Earth. She also served as Chair of the Science Committee of the NASA Advisory Council, earning the NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal in 2022 for her leadership and support of NASA’s mission.
An elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, Wadhwa is a recipient of the J. Lawrence Smith Medal of the National Academy of Sciences, the Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Award and the Guggenheim Fellowship. She is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), and served as an AGU College of Fellows Distinguished Lecturer from 2024 to 2025.
As we welcome Meenakshi Wadhwa to her new role, we also acknowledge and express our profound appreciation for the foundational leadership of Margaret Leinen, who has served as Vice Chancellor for Marine Sciences, Dean of the School of Marine Sciences and Director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography since 2013. Leinen announced last year that she was stepping down, but will continue to serve until Wadhwa joins us in October.
Notably, Wadhwa’s connection to UC San Diego runs deep, as she was a postdoctoral scholar at Scripps Institution of Oceanography from 1994 to 1995. We are pleased to welcome her back as Vice Chancellor for Marine Sciences, Dean of the School of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, and Director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Please join me in giving her a warm welcome.
