Job Announcement: Dean of the Division of Humanities

UCLA Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) invites inquiries, nominations and applications for the position of Dean of the Division of Humanities.

One of the five divisions of the UCLA College of Letters and Science (the College), the division of humanities includes the departments of applied linguistics; art history; Asian languages and cultures; classics; comparative literature; English; French and Francophone studies; Germanic languages; Italian; linguistics; musicology; Near Eastern languages and cultures; philosophy; Scandinavian; Slavic languages and literatures; and Spanish and Portuguese. All departments offer undergraduate majors and graduate Ph.D. programs. In addition, the Division has a Ph.D. program in Indo-European Studies; an interdisciplinary major in the study of religion; and undergraduate minors in digital humanities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender studies; as well as the College’s writing programs. The division is also home to research centers in digital humanities, Jewish studies, the study of religion, medieval and renaissance studies, and 17th and 18th century studies, as well as the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library. The division has approximately 3,000 undergraduates, 600 graduate students and an annual operating budget of approximately $73 million. Of its 235 ladder faculty, 16 are members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, three are members of the National Academy of Science, one is a MacArthur Fellow and numerous are recipients of fellowships from the Mellon Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation and the American Council of Learned Societies.

As the chief executive and academic officer for the division, the dean provides strategic vision for and operational leadership of all aspects of the academic and scholarly program, setting the standard for intellectual engagement and accomplishment and fostering an environment and community that supports the division’s faculty and students. The dean works to ensure that the division serves its students with academic programs of the highest quality and effectiveness, promoting excellence through diversity in undergraduate and graduate programs and faculty recruitment. Supporting the university’s research mission, the dean promotes opportunities to explore newer disciplines and advance the scholarly activities of the faculty, including the opportunities that interdisciplinary approaches afford. He/she serves as the division’s public voice, articulating its contributions to local, state, regional, national and international communities, and pursuing an aggressive development program to build the division’s resources. Reporting to the executive vice chancellor and provost, the dean serves on the deans’ council and the College Cabinet, and collaborates with the chancellor, executive vice chancellor/provost, vice chancellors, vice provosts, deans and department chairs at UCLA and across the University of California system. In particular, the dean of humanities works closely with the College deans of life sciences, physical sciences, social sciences and undergraduate education.

The successful candidate will be nationally recognized with demonstrated leadership, substantial administrative experience and strong scholarly visibility within the humanities research community. Minimum requirements include a strong commitment to research, teaching and public service; administrative leadership experience; a record of distinguished scholarly accomplishment and intellectual leadership in a humanities field; proven success in—or aptitude for—external and alumni relations and development; a record of advancing diversity; and academic credentials that merit appointment at the rank of full professor.

Situated on 419 acres, five miles from the Pacific Ocean, UCLA is enriched by the cultural diversity of the dynamic greater Los Angeles area, as well as the geographic advantages of Southern California. One of the world’s preeminent public research universities, UCLA is an international leader in breadth and quality of academic, research, health care, cultural, continuing education and athletic programs, with more than 4,000 faculty members who teach approximately 40,000 students in the College of Letters and Science and 11 professional schools. UCLA is consistently ranked in the top five institutions nationally for research funding, having generated more than $1 billion in research contracts and grants for two consecutive years.

Confidential review of applications, nominations and expressions of interest begin immediately and will continue until an appointment is made. To be ensured full consideration, please forward a letter of interest and curriculum vitae to HumanitiesDeanSearch@conet.ucla.edu by January 13, 2012 (electronic files preferred). Address inquiries to Traci Considine, manager of executive searches in the Office of the Chancellor (310-206-8003).

The University of California is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer, and seeks candidates committed to the highest standards of scholarship and professional activities and to a campus climate that supports equality and diversity.