Appointment of Joseph A. Rudnick as Dean, Division of Physical Sciences

UCLA Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost

Administrative Officers, Deans, Department Chairs, Directors, Vice Chancellors, and Faculty and Staff in the Division of Physical Sciences
 

Dear Colleagues:

I am pleased to announce the selection of Joseph A. Rudnick as dean of the Division of Physical Sciences, effective August 1, 2009, pending approval by the UC Regents.

A member of UCLA’s physics faculty since 1984, Joe served as chair of the Department of Physics from 1986 to 1989 and chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy from 2004 to 2006.  He has served as acting dean of the Division of Physical Sciences since October 2006.  In addition to serving in departmental and divisional roles, Joe has been very active in university-wide academic leadership.  He has served on a number of UCLA committees, including the Committee on Undergraduate Courses and Curricula, the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Instructional Improvement, and the Council on Academic Personnel, for which he served as vice chair in 1996-97.

Joe has lectured internationally and has held appointments at a number of institutions, including the University of Washington; Tel Aviv University; Case Western Reserve University; Tufts University; and the University of California, Santa Cruz.  A theoretical condensed matter physicist, Joe has a variety of research interests in the general field of statistical mechanics.  His recent research has ranged from the purely physical – critical phenomena and exotic forms of magnetism – to the interface with biology in studies of the structure of viruses and the mechanical properties of DNA.

Joe holds a Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, San Diego and an A.B. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley.

I want to thank the search/advisory committee for its role in recruiting Joe.  Together, they assembled an outstanding pool of candidates for this position.  The committee was chaired by Victoria L. Sork, chair of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and professor at the Institute of the Environment.  Other committee members included Russel E. Caflisch, Mathematics; David S. Eisenberg, Chemistry and Biochemistry; S.L. Huang, UCLA Foundation Board of Directors; Ann R. Karagozian, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; James McWilliams, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences; Mark Morris, Physics and Astronomy; and David L. Rigby, Geography.  The executive search firm, Brill Neumann Associates, was represented by Elizabeth Neumann.

I also want to expressly thank Joe for his dedicated service as acting dean.  I look forward to his continued leadership, confident that the division will continue to thrive under his capable direction.  Please join me in congratulating Joe and in welcoming him to his new permanent position.

Sincerely,

Scott L. Waugh
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost