Appointment of Miguel A. García-Garibay as Dean of the Division of Physical Sciences

June 6, 2016

UCLA Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost

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

Dear Colleagues:

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Miguel A. García-Garibay as Dean of the Division of Physical Sciences, effective July 1, 2016.

A member of UCLA’s faculty for more than two decades, Professor García-Garibay has served as chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry since 2012. Previously, he served as the department’s vice chair (2005-08) and as diversity advisor for the Division of Physical Sciences (2009-12). A passionate scholar, Professor García-Garibay runs a research group, which has earned worldwide recognition in the fields of organic photochemistry, solid-state organic chemistry and physical organic chemistry. His current research, much of which is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), is aimed at the development of artificial molecular machinery in highly organized crystalline media and the development of green chemistry by taking advantage of organic reactions in molecular nanocrystals. In 2007, Professor García-Garibay was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In addition, he is a member of the California NanoSystems Institute, Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science, American Chemical Society (ACS), Royal Society of Chemistry and Inter-American Photochemical Society (I-APS).

Professor García-Garibay received a B.S. in pharmaceutical chemistry and biology from Michoacan University of Saint Nicholas of Hidalgo and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of British Columbia. After earning his Ph.D., he served as a postdoctoral fellow first at the University of British Columbia and then at Columbia University before joining the UCLA faculty in 1992. The author of more than 200 articles and chapters, Professor García-Garibay is an associate editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society and serves on the editorial advisory boards of Crystal Growth & Design and The Journal of Organic Chemistry. He has delivered numerous lectures at conferences and universities worldwide, and he previously held visiting appointments at the University of Zurich, University of Angers, National Autonomous University of Mexico and Queen’s University. For his cutting-edge research, Professor García-Garibay has received numerous honors from the NSF, ACS and I-APS. At UCLA, he received the Herbert Newby McCoy Award (1999), Academic Advancement Program Faculty Recognition Award (2008), Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award (2013), and the Faculty-Staff Partnership Award (2015), among others.   

I want to thank the search/advisory committee for assembling an outstanding pool of candidates and for its role in recruiting Miguel. The committee was chaired by James F. Davis, vice provost for information technology, chief academic technology officer, and professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering. Other members were: Mani Bhaumik – president of Cosmogenetics, Inc., and a member of the Physical Sciences Board of Visitors; Russel E. Caflisch – professor of mathematics and director of the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics; Troy A. Carter – professor and vice chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy; William M. Gelbart – distinguished professor of chemistry and biochemistry; Carlos V. Grijalva – professor of psychology and behavioral neuroscience and associate dean of the UCLA Graduate Division; Mark S. Handcock – professor and chair of the Department of Statistics; David Jewitt – professor of earth, planetary and space sciences, and of physics and astronomy; Adrienne G. Lavine – professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering; Kuo-Nan Liou – distinguished professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences; and Marilyn N. Raphael – professor of geography.
 
I also want to recognize and thank Dean Joseph Rudnick for his distinguished leadership of the division since 2006.

Chancellor Block and I are confident that the Division of Physical Sciences will continue to thrive under Miguel’s capable leadership. Please join me in congratulating him and welcoming him to this new role.

Sincerely,

Scott L. Waugh
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost