 
Engineering
Dean Paul R. Gray selected to become UC Berkeley's new Executive
Vice Chancellor and Provost
03
Feb 2000
By
Marie Felde, Public Affairs
BERKELEY--
Paul R. Gray, dean of the College of Engineering at the University
of California, Berkeley, has been named to succeed Carol T.
Christ as the campus's Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost.
The
appointment requires approval by the UC Board of Regents and
is expected to become effective July 1, 2000, when Christ has
announced she plans to return to teaching.
The
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost is the campus's chief
academic officer and serves as the Chancellor's second-in-command
in all areas of planning and administration. In announcing his
choice for the position, Chancellor Robert M. Berdahl praised
Gray as a strong academic leader with a reputation across campus
as a dean of notable competence and vision.
"Paul
Gray has shown a deep commitment to the mission of this great
public university and brings to this crucial position the skills
and enthusiasm necessary to maximize the possibilities and opportunities
before us. I am absolutely delighted to have Paul as a partner
as we move forward," said Berdahl.
Dean
of the College of Engineering since 1996, 57-year-old Gray oversees
the campus's largest professional school, which has more than
4,000 students, a faculty of 200 and an annual budget of $130
million.
"I
am honored to have this opportunity to work with the chancellor,
senior administrators and the campus community to help make
the tremendous progress we envision for Berkeley in this new
century," said Gray. "Berkeley's excellence spans
the domains of knowledge - the humanities, arts, sciences, social
sciences, engineering and the professions. Our goal is to support
and enhance that excellence for students, scholars and the people
of California."
Gray
said he saw the major challenges facing the Berkeley campus
as responding to growing student demand for enrollment; ensuring
access for outstanding students; renewing facilities; attracting
top professors; and making the best use of new technology for
teaching and distance learning.
"We
have a phenomenal community of faculty, staff, students and
alumni," he said. "We'll work together to turn challenges
into opportunities and opportunities into programs that will
benefit the next generations of Berkeley students."
An
authority in integrated circuit design, Gray joined the UC Berkeley
faculty in 1972 as an assistant professor in the Department
of Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences. Two years
later, he was promoted to associate professor and became a full
professor in 1978. He holds the Roy W. Carlson Chair in Engineering
and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the
highest professional honor for a U.S. engineer.
As
dean of UC Berkeley's highly ranked College of Engineering,
Gray oversaw a planned 10 percent increase in enrollment over
the past three years. He worked closely with faculty members
to establish a new Department of Bioengineering, the college's
first new department in 40 years.
He
is also a key player in guiding progress in the remarkable seismic
renovation and modernization of Hearst Memorial Mining Building,
a national historic landmark that is being transformed into
a state-of-the-art teaching and research center.
In
his new role, Gray hopes to foster collaborations in research
and teaching that span traditional academic disciplines. "Berkeley
has a uniquely good track record in building broadly interdisciplinary
programs that have a major impact on society's toughest problems,
such as health care," he said. "We need to be proactive,
to help faculty bring forth these initiatives that will make
a difference."
He
said he also is eager to use new technology to bring UC Berkeley's
educational power to wider communities of learners. "Information
technology is changing everything about the way higher education
is delivered," he said. "It will open new avenues
for on-campus learners and enable us to reach new populations
of students across the state and beyond."
Gray
and his wife, Judy, reside in Orinda, Calif., and have two sons,
Matt, 28, and Ryan, 24.
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