UCSC Review Summer 1996

Graduate studies dean from UC Davis to succeed Chancellor Pister in July

The University of California Board of Regents, acting on President Richard C. Atkinson's recommendation, named M.R.C. Greenwood chancellor of UCSC during a special meeting in April.

A nationally respected scholar and dean of graduate studies and vice provost for academic outreach at UC Davis, Greenwood, 53, will be UCSC's seventh chancellor, succeeding Karl S. Pister, who will retire at the end of June. She was selected following a nationwide search by an advisory committee composed of Regents, faculty, students, staff, and representatives of the UCSC Alumni Association and UCSC Foundation.

She will assume her new post on July 1.

"With her expertise and insight into the importance of federal funding of research and her skills as a campus leader and strategic thinker, M.R.C. Greenwood is uniquely well suited to lead the Santa Cruz campus," Atkinson said.

Clair Burgener, chairman of the Board of Regents, praised Greenwood's appointment saying, "She is highly intelligent, eminently accomplished in science, education, and administration, and a keen judge of people."

"I am very pleased to learn of the Board of Regents' selection of Dr. Greenwood as the next chancellor of UC Santa Cruz," added Chancellor Pister. "Dr. Greenwood will bring to the campus a combination of administrative and teaching experience together with a distinguished record of scholarly accomplishment. In addition, she offers the asset of recent experience in science and technology policy in the executive branch in Washington, D.C. I am confident that she will be an effective leader to bring the campus into the 21st century."

"The University of California at Santa Cruz is a jewel in the finest research university system in the world," Greenwood said. "I am greatly honored to be named its seventh chancellor. UCSC began with a recognition that a true education stimulates both the mind and the spirit. UCSC's distinctive blend of superb faculty, outstanding research opportunities, an unsurpassable physical setting, and devoted attention to students and the learning environment makes it unique. Our challenge, working together, will be to move into the next century with dedication to our innovative roots and with fresh approaches to the increasingly challenging times for public higher education. I eagerly anticipate working with the UCSC faculty, students, staff, alumni, and friends."

From December 1993 to May 1995, Greenwood took a leave of absence from her duties at UC Davis to serve as associate director for science in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. In that position, she advised the Clinton administration on issues related to national budgetary priorities and federal investment in fundamental scientific research.

As dean of graduate studies at Davis since 1989, Greenwood has been responsible for approximately 80 departmental and interdepartmental programs. She also participates in the development of training grants and has responsibility for the postdoctoral programs of the Davis campus. As vice provost, she leads the UC Davis innovative Internet-based university outreach program and oversees University Extension, summer sessions, and a variety of other outreach-oriented units.

Elected in 1992 to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, Greenwood has served as an officer in several scientific disciplinary societies and policy-making boards and is the recipient of numerous honors and awards.

Greenwood graduated summa cum laude from Vassar College with a bachelor's degree in biology in 1968. She received her doctorate in physiology, developmental biology, and neurosciences from Rockefeller University in 1973.

She was an assistant professor of human genetics and development at Columbia University from 1976 to 1978. From 1978 to 1981, Greenwood was associate professor of biology at Vassar College, and she served as professor and chair of the biology department and as John Guy Vassar Professor of Natural Sciences from 1986 to 1989.

Greenwood joined UC Davis in 1989 as dean of graduate studies and professor of nutrition and internal medicine.