Dean of the Division of Social Sciences George Mangun recently announced his decision to step down from his position.
According to Mangun, deans are normally appointed for five-year terms, creating a continual turnover in each academic division. Mangun, who was reappointed to the position after his term ended, has served as dean for seven years. During this time, he helped develop several projects, including the Center for Poverty Research and the Institute for Social Sciences.
“[I’m proud of] building new things like the Institute for Social Sciences,” Mangun said. “Of course, the faculty deserves most of that credit, but I’m happy I was able to support the faculty and students and help get us through some tough times on campus and help bring us back stronger than ever.”
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter said that Mangun approached him about a month ago regarding stepping down from dean, but Mangun will remain at UC Davis as a faculty member.
“One of things that’s most impressive about Dean Mangun is that he’s maintained his lab and his profile as a researcher in neuroscience,” Hexter said. “For all of us faculty who serve as administrators, there is a pull to our research and our teaching.”
Mangun said that he will continue running his research laboratory as well as teaching cognitive neuroscience classes at UC Davis.
“I am the kind of dean that kept his research program quite active and I also taught while I was a dean,” Mangun said. “I sort of see it as a shifting the balance to do more of those things than less.”
Mangun will officially step down on July 1, or as soon as an interim dean replacement can be found. Hexter says that once appointed, the interim dean will most likely hold the position for a year while a search is led to find a permanent dean during the following academic year.
“The interim dean is key but not someone you look at for long-term,” Hexter said. “Usually we think [that they will hold office] for a year…our expectation is that the successor leadership will [then] come in around July 2016.”
Hexter said that Mangun achieved much during his time in office, including his work on The Institute for Social Sciences, recruiting new faculty members and supporting faculty projects.
“He has been so dedicated to supporting his faculty,” Hexter said.
In her statement on the UC Davis Dateline page, Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi also thanked Mangun for his service as dean.
“Countless faculty and students have benefited from [Mangun’s] leadership,” Katehi said. “He has been an outstanding administrator and educator, and the entire university owes him a great debt of gratitude.”
Graphic by Jennifer Wu.
