Campus & community, People, Milestones, Campus news

New vice provost for the faculty

By Public Affairs

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Claude Steele, executive vice chancellor and provost of UC Berkeley, sent this message to the campus community today:

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce that after a comprehensive internal search, Professor Benjamin Hermalin has agreed to serve as the next vice provost for the faculty. Ben will succeed the current vice provost, Janet Broughton, when she retires in June at the end of her five-year term.

Ben Hermalin

Ben Hermalin

Ben joined the Berkeley campus as an assistant professor in 1988, with joint appointments in the Department of Economics and the Haas School of Business. He holds the Thomas and Alison Schneider Distinguished Professorship in Finance, and he has received the Haas School’s Earl F. Cheit Outstanding Teaching Award and its Schwabacher Award for teaching and research. Ben earned his Ph.D. from MIT; his research areas include corporate governance, the study of organizations, industrial organization and law and economics.

In addition to his outstanding accomplishments in teaching and research, Ben has excelled in a number of key service and leadership roles. He was associate and interim dean at the Haas School of Business and chair of the Department of Economics. He was chair of the Budget Committee in 2011-12 and is now chair of the Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate. Ben will bring a depth of experience and campus knowledge to his new position; knowing his good judgment, leadership abilities and sense of fairness, I am confident his contributions to the campus will be exceptional.

Ben’s appointment as vice provost will begin on July 1, 2016. He will step down as chair of the Academic Senate effective March 9, and the current vice chair, Robert Powell, will then become the chair. At my request, Ben will use the title of vice provost-designate during this interval. As the vice provost-designate, Ben will continue to participate in the Academic Realignment Initiative and other aspects of the Strategic Framework, in addition to transitioning to his new role by working with Janet Broughton.

The vice provost for the faculty is a key campus leadership position, charged with ensuring the continued excellence of Berkeley’s faculty and of its entire academic staff. The vice provost works to maintain high standards and fair processes for appointments, promotions, and merit increases, and has responsibilities for making Berkeley a place where pre-eminent faculty will choose to make their careers. These responsibilities entail that the vice provost plays a lead role in developing strategies regarding faculty diversity and equity; faculty welfare, recruitment and retention; and academic planning and budget reform.

Finally, let me again thank our current vice provost, Janet Broughton. Her accomplishments in this role have been extraordinary and her contributions to the campus prodigious. She has set a high standard for us to follow.

Please join me in welcoming Vice Provost-designate Ben Hermalin to his new role.

Sincerely,

Claude Steele

Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost