The UC Board of Regents appointed Steven V.W. Beckwith,
director of the Space Telescope Science Institute and professor of physics and
astronomy at
as the UC vice president for research and graduate studies on Nov. 15.
Effective Jan. 1, 2008, Beckwith will act as the senior UC
systemwide research officer responsible for long-term graduate education
planning, outreach and recruitment, coordinating planning for new graduate
programs and identifying and developing responses to major research
initiatives.
The new position was approved by regents in May after review
by an academic committee for the UC Office of the President and entails
networking with industry, state and federal governments and promoting
university positions on research policy issues.
As director of the Space Telescope Science Institute from
1998 to 2005, Beckwith was responsible for overseeing approximately 600 people
conducting research activities for the Hubble Space Telescope, as well as for
the distribution of more than $25 million annually in research funding.
“UC is the pre-eminent public research university in the
world, and I am deeply honored by this appointment,” Beckwith said in a press
release. “It is the best-positioned university system to create major
scientific advances through multicampus cooperation, and I am very much looking
forward to working with the regents, administration, faculty, staff and
students to help advance UC’s tradition of excellence in the forefront of
research and graduate education.”
