Janet Broughton named vice provost

Janet Broughton, a professor of philosophy and Berkeley’s dean of arts and humanities, has been appointed vice provost for academic affairs and faculty welfare.

Janet Broughton

In her new position, Broughton will have broad responsibilities for the academic administration of all colleges, schools, divisions and other academic units. She will also oversee academic-personnel policies and practices covering Berkeley’s faculty members and academic appointees, including procedures for recruitment, appointment, promotion and equity.

“It’s vital to sustain Berkeley’s excellence in teaching and research, and in my new job I’ll be working hard to make sure this campus remains a place where preeminent faculty will choose to make their careers,” Broughton said.

Broughton will replace Vice Provost Shelley Zedeck, who is retiring at the end of 2010 with plans to continue his writing and his psychology research after a monthlong trip to Argentina and Antarctica.

She plans to delay her move into the new position until July 1, 2011, so that she can continue to guide the arts and humanities division of the College of Letters and Science through the rest of the academic year. Angelica Stacy, a chemistry professor and associate vice provost in the Office for Faculty Equity, will serve as acting vice provost until then.

As vice provost, Broughton will have oversight over the Academic Personnel Office, the Faculty Equity Office, the Academic Compliance and Disability Standards Office, the Campus Climate and Compliance Office, the UC Retirement Center and the CALcierge Office.

Programs such as childcare, policies supporting faculty family responsibilities, faculty partner hiring, faculty development grants, emergency backup dependent care and faculty home loans will also be part of her purview. In addition, the vice provost provides administrative oversight for the Neurosciences Institute and the Energy Resources Group.

“Janet Broughton combines academic credentials, interpersonal skills, organizational experience at many levels of the campus and university and a broad appreciation of the excellence of Berkeley’s faculty,” Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost George Breslauer said in a recent CalMessage announcing the appointment. “The chancellor and I look forward to working with her on academic-personnel and faculty- welfare issues.”

Broughton, an authority on 17th and 18th century philosophy, has served as dean of arts and humanities since 2006, overseeing a broad range of academic programs in the arts, languages, literature, philosophy and rhetoric.

A New York native, she attended Mount Holyoke College for a year before taking time off from school to work with young students in Houston through the VISTA program, the so-called domestic Peace Corps.

She also worked as a programmer and announcer for a classical-music radio station before returning to school at Sacramento City College, eventually graduating with a B.A. in philosophy from UC Davis. Her graduate work came at Princeton University, where she earned her Ph.D.

Berkeley lured her away from Harvard University in 1979 to teach in the Department of Philosophy, where she served as department chair for five years. She has written a book and edited another on the French philosopher René Descartes, and is working on a new book about Scottish philosopher David Hume.

In addition to teaching, Broughton has served on the Academic Senate’s budget committee, its divisional council, the Program Review Oversight Committee, the Faculty Compensation Working Group and the Senate/Administration Working Group on Academic Review Streamlining. She has also served as acting dean of Letters and Science.

A search will be conducted for her replacement as arts and humanities dean, Breslauer said.