The IAB includes a cross-section of UC Davis academic and
administrative leaders. It is comprised of the deans of the five
STEM colleges, Chair of the Davis Division of the Academic
Senate, Associate Executive Vice Chancellor (who is the
Affirmative Action Officer at UC Davis and is responsible for
University Community Outreach), and Director of Interdisciplinary
Research Services. This committee is chaired by Professor and
College of Engineering Dean Jennifer Sinclair Curtis.
The IAB advises the PI and Steering Committee on ways to optimize
programmatic activities and champions UC Davis ADVANCE during
campus-level resource-allocation decisions.
Jennifer Sinclair Curtis is Dean of the College of Engineering at
the University of California, Davis. In her role as the Associate
Dean for Research at the University of Florida, she supported
faculty and researchers in developing and maintaining research
programs, including promoting interdisciplinary research, working
with research sponsors and funding agencies, coordinating the
college’s research institutes and ensuring regulatory compliance.
Dr. Delany is a Professor of Developmental Genetics and Interim
Dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
(CAES) at UC Davis. She holds the John and Joan Fiddyment Endowed
Chair in Agriculture. Previously, she was chair of Animal Science
(2005-2009) and Associate Dean of CAES (2009-2012). Dr.
Delany’s research focuses on avian telomere biology, with chicken
being the primary study organism.
Helene R. Dillard was appointed dean of the College of
Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at UC Davis in January
2014. Her goal is to build upon the strengths of the college in
research, teaching, extension and outreach, and maintain strong
relationships with the broad range of stakeholders in California,
nationally, and globally. In addition to her responsibilities as
dean, she has programmatic responsibilities for the college’s
Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension.
Professor Knoesen serves as the Chair of the UC Davis Academic
Senate, a governing body that interacts extensively with the
Policy & Practices Review Initiative during formal consultation
processes for suggested policy changes to facilitate
institutional transformation. His research interests as a
Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (1987 – present)
lie in several areas: optics; electromagnetics and electronics
relating to applications of structured supramolecular functional
composite materials; and intersection of these topics with the
life sciences.
Enrique Lavernia returned to his post as dean of the College of
Engineering, a position he previously held from 2002 to 2009,
after serving as the provost and executive vice chancellor of the
University of California, Davis, from January 2009 to December
2010. Prior to arriving at Davis, Lavernia served as chair and
chancellor’s professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering
and Materials Science at UC Irvine.
James E.K. Hildreth is the dean of the UC Davis College of
Biological Sciences and professor in the departments of Molecular
and Cellular Biology and Internal Medicine.
Dean Hildreth has been affiliated with a string of prestigious
universities, earning his bachelor degree from Harvard University
in 1979, his doctorate from Oxford University in immunology in
1982 as a Rhodes Scholar, and his medical degree from Johns
Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1987. He is a member of
the Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academy of
Sciences.
Alexandra Navrotsky was educated at the Bronx High School of
Science and the University of Chicago (B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in
physical chemistry). After postdoctoral work in Germany and at
Penn State University, she joined the faculty in Chemistry at
Arizona State University, where she remained till her move to the
Department of Geological and Geophysical Sciences at Princeton
University in 1985. She chaired that department from 1988 to 1991
and has been active in the Princeton Materials Institute.
George R. Mangun is Dean of the Division of Social Sciences, and
Professor of Psychology and Neurology in the Center for Mind and
Brain at UC Davis. Mangun, an international leader in cognitive
neuroscience, received his Ph.D. in 1987 from the University
of California, San Diego. He began his professorial career in
1990 at Dartmouth College and Medical School in the Program in
Cognitive Neuroscience, where he also served as director of the
graduate program. In 1992, he joined the Psychology Department at
UC Davis as one of the founding faculty members of the Center for
Neuroscience.
Rahim Reed assumed his responsibilities as the Associate
Executive Vice Chancellor for Campus Community Relations (AEVC)
at UC Davis on September 17, 2001. The AEVC serves as the primary
advisor on matters of campus community relations to deans, vice
chancellors, vice provosts and other senior campus
administrators. The primary responsibility of OCCR is to help the
University chart a course that will ensure attention to those
components of campus’ social environment that affect community,
campus climate, diversity and inclusiveness.
Sheryl Soucy-Lubell is the Director of Interdisciplinary Research
Support team in the UC Davis Office of Research. Under her
direction, this team is responsible for the preparation of major
grant and contract proposals for large-scale, interdisciplinary
research programs. As director of this unit, Sheryl identifies
and develops collaborative efforts in pursuit of extramural
funding opportunities; advises campus administrators in
prioritizing research efforts by determining UC Davis research
capacity in specific areas and forecasting opportunities for
success prior to committing resources; and conducts campus-wide
research development activities such as workshops, trainings,
program officer visits, funding opportunity searches and
dissemination, and research team building.
Peter C. Wainwright is a Professor of Evolution & Ecology at UC
Davis and Interim Dean of the College of Biological Sciences. He
received his B.S. degree in Zoology at Duke University in 1980
and his Ph.D. in Anatomy in 1988 at the University of Chicago.
Prior to his appointment at UC Davis in 1999, he was a Professor
of Biological Sciences at Florida State University and before
that a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of California,
Irvine. Professor Wainwright’s research program focuses on the
biomechanics and evolution of fishes.
Li Zhang is the Interim Dean of the Division of Social Sciences
within the College of Letters and Sciences, and previously served
as Department Chair and Professor of Anthropology. Her research
is on the social, political, and cultural repercussions of market
reform and socialist transformations in contemporary China. She
completed her second book that examines the social and spatial
implications of housing privatization and the making of the new
middle classes in urban China.
